Harry Potter and the Trust in Bonds
by Elia101
Summary: End of third year. Sirius has been given a trial. Bit of a slow start, but builds quickly. No God-Like Harry nor friends however, there will darker undertones than the original story by JK Rowling. This story will follow canon as much as possible with my own twists and adaptations. Rated M just in case. Please excuse me for any bad grammar, trying my best. At least weekly updates
1. Chapter 1: Night Encounters

Chapter 1: Night encounters

Harry leant against the cool glass of the window of the Hogwarts Express and thought back to the last couple of days. After what had been a crazy night during the full moon, much had been revealed to Harry and his friends. That night he found out that his godfather, Sirius Black, was not the convict that the wizarding world had been led to believe, but in fact an innocent man that had regrettably been put through a bureaucratic system that caused him to spend the last eleven years in Azkaban. Rather, it was Harry's parent's other supposedly best friend, Peter Pettigrew that betrayed them to Lord Voldemort and caused their deaths.

Understandably, Sirius wanted revenge on Peter however, Harry was able to convince him otherwise and allow Peter to be put under veritaserum in order to clear Sirius' name. Fatefully, Peter was able to take advantage of the full moon and escape in his animagus form. Still, with the help of professor Dumbledore, Harry was able to convince Sirius to turn himself in so that he could clear his name. At first, the minister of magic, Cornilius Fudge, wanted to apprehend Sirius and subject him to the Dementor's kiss but when Sirius readily agreed to speak under the influence of veritaserum and provide memories for a pensieve, Fudge admitted that he would allow Sirius a trial in front of the Wizengamot. The date has been set for August 4th, which would mean that Harry would still need to return to the Dursleys for the summer break as they were still his guardians.

"Everything alright, Harry?" came a voice bringing Harry back to the present. He turned to Ron, the source of the voice, who was giving him a puzzled look.

"Yea, mate, everything's fine. Just thinking about Sirius and the upcoming trial" said Harry.

Ron gave a nod of understanding. He knew how hard it was going to be for Harry in the next couple of months. He had finally found someone that was connected to his parents and was now facing the possible reality that the one bond could be taken away from him.

"Don't worry, there isn't much point thinking about it and getting worked up when you can't do anything about it," said Ron. "Dumbledore will make sure that Sirius gets a fair trial and you'll be reunited with him in no time" Ron assured.

"Yea, I guess you're right" acknowledged Harry.

"Anyway, on to happier thoughts, I didn't want to tell you because of the last couple of days but dad owled me a few days ago and told me that he's gotten first class seats to the Quidditch World Cup final for all of us"

At this Harry perked up immediately. The Quidditch World Cup! That would be a once in a lifetime opportunity to go to.

The rest of the ride home settled into an easy routine of playing exploding snap, discussing the upcoming World Cup and basically anything that didn't relate to school. The train pulled in to and the students disembarked from the train Harry walked up to the Dursleys with his trunk in tow.

"Get in the car" barked Vernon, Harry's uncle. Harry, being used to this standard treatment obliged and soon they were off to Privet Drive.

The summer weeks went by slowly as they always did whenever Harry returned home. However, the thought of Sirius' trial meant that Harry's summer was going even slower. He hadn't told the Dursleys of the upcoming trial as he didn't want to get his hopes up of leaving the god-forsaken home of eleven years. On the 1st of August a letter came imbued with the Hogwarts crest. Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, had written to Harry and his family indicating that he would be picking Harry up the next day at precisely 4:00pm to take him to the Weasley's home, the Burrow, for the remainder of the summer. This suited Harry just fine as the less he saw of the Dursleys the better in his opinion, and he would get a chance to see his best friends. As far as his uncle, aunt and cousin were concerned this suited them just fine too.

That night Harry had his trunk packed and ready to go, the Dursleys were out at a fancy restaurant in London that Uncle Vernon had organised in celebration of landing a new contract with his firm Grunnings. Harry, taking advantage of being home along made himself a delicious dinner of soup and warm bread with butter smeared on it and sat in front of the television. Not two moments passed when the lights in the house suddenly went out, as well as the television screen turning off. Harry, trusting his instincts grabbed his wand from the table next to himself and crept to the front door just as a shadow loomed behind him

"Expelliarmus!"

Before Harry had time to react his wand had flown out of his hand and into the assailant's.

"You!" Harry bellowed, leaving all thoughts of self-preservation aside, Harry leapt at Peter Pettigrew, but only managed to get pushed down with a wordless spell.

"Be quiet, boy." Peter hissed. "You'll wake up the neighbourhood, and that's the last thing we want. I'm here to help you, in a roundabout manner" he added. The cowering rat and man that had stood before Harry and his friends under the Shrieking Shack had disappeared and in front of Harry was a man confident and in control of his surroundings.

"Why should I believe you?" Harry spat out, clearly not believing Pettigrew. The next moment he felt the spell lift and he was able to sit up.

"There, a show of good faith, if you will" countered Pettigrew. "Now listen as I don't have much time and this will be the last time I help you. As you can see the blood wards have fallen and I was able to get in. For the last thirteen years you've been able to avoid detection from wizards that have wanted to cause you harm, but not anymore. I don't know the reason, I have a theory but what's worse is that if I can get to you then people worse than me can too."

Harry paled when hearing this, he knew that Dumbledore would arrive tomorrow to collect him but if what Pettigrew said was true then could he survive until then?

"Why are you helping me and what are wards?" asked Harry.

"He hasn't told you? Figures. It's more complex than any fourteen year old could understand. As for why I'm helping you, you stood up for me when Sirius and Remus would have killed me. You showed your mother's compassion and let me live. Not many would have done that, least of all someone who has been through what you have. For this I am grateful, but consider the debt repaid. I have warned you and will stay as long as until Dumbledore arrives – yes I know he is coming to pick you up," he stated seeing Harry's bewildered expression.

"What about the Dursleys?" Harry asked.

"Do you honestly think that I hadn't considered that?" drawled Pettigrew. "Your uncle, fool that he is, was easily manipulated into thinking that he had achieved a level of mediocrity that was cause for celebration. They won't notice that I am here regardless, I'll be in my rat form and staking out in your room".

"Well can I have my wand back at least?

"No. I don't trust you, and I don't need to give you an excuse to turn on me and attack. You can have it back when I leave"

Harry just nodded, turned his back and made his way up to his room. He knew he wouldn't sleep tonight despite Peter's reassurances. He flicked his desk lamp on and resigned himself to flicking through his textbooks, looking at what he had missed for his summer homework.

_Give the spell incantation and an example of when the shield charm can be of use._

Harry pondered for a moment before writing the appropriate answer. He heard a small scoff behind him.

"_Protego_? Is this what they're teaching you? This is first year level, not what you would expect from the so-called leading institution of magical knowledge in Britain and Europe."

"Look, as appreciative as I am about you helping me out and putting your neck on the line, I don't need you commenting on my summer studies. Also, by accounts you were never the brains within the marauders"

"I may have not been on the same level as your father and Sirius, but to become an animagus by fifth year is so small feat" Peter retorted.

"Well if you're so smart, why don't you give me the answer for a better defensive shield?"

"Ha, I just told you I'm not stupid, I'm not doing your homework for you"

Harry glared and returned to his homework attempting to ignore the man in his bedroom. He methodically worked through all his studies, the only sound in the room coming from the scratching of his quill on parchment.

"_Protego Maxima_"

Harry nearly jumped, he had forgotten about the other man in the room.

'What?"

"_Protego Maxima. _It's the shield charm to protect oneself from another's attack. However, it won't work with just saying it out. It needs to be in conjunction with _Fianto Duri _and _Repello Inimicum._ Those three spells combined will create a shield so strong that anyone entering will disintegrate and spells bouncing off it will turn into explosions. Only truly gifted wizards and witches would be able to break through it. However, I wouldn't recommend writing it down. Your professors might want to know where you got your information from."

"Okay. How come you know so much? Did that sadist teach you some useful spells?"

For the first time that night Harry saw a flicker of unease cross the man's face however, as quickly as it had come it disappeared.

"Though the Dark Lord is known for his cruelty he is also generous with his knowledge. He is condemned throughout most of Britain nevertheless; he is one of the greatest mages of all time. Haven't you realised that there hasn't been an owl for the ministry expelling you for using underage magic? I know spells that you couldn't comprehend"

With a shock Harry realised that the betrayer of his parents was correct. By all accounts he should've received a letter notifying him of his expulsion but nothing had arrived.

Pettigrew turned his head to the window and Harry followed his gaze, by this stage dawn was creeping up on them and Harry could see a tinge of azure and scarlet on the horizon.

"This is where I leave you, Harry. I don't believe anyone will make a move for you from here until when Dumbledore arrives".

He made to transform into his animagus form but Harry shouted, "Wait! My wand"

Pettigrew chucked "Ah, thought I could get away with that one"

"Here's a tip, I'm not stupid either" Harry countered.

Pettigrew handed over the wand and with a nod of his head turned to the door. He turned around a with a soft glance at the photo of Harry's parents on his bed stand whispered "Consider the debt repaid" and with that turned into his animagus form and disappeared.


	2. Chapter 2: Friends Reunited

Chapter 2: Friends reunited

The next day Harry had his school trunk, Hedwig's cage, and all his belongings packed up and ready to go and waiting at the foot of the stairs by the front door. He wasn't sure if he would tell Professor Dumbledore about last nights encounter with Peter Pettigrew just yet. With fifteen minutes to go until the awaited time Harry made his way downstairs to the living room where he watched the clock on the wall with rapt attention. As the minute hand hit the hour mark there came a soft knock on the door, Harry quickly leapt up to answer the door where a tall, aged man stood. Albus Dumbledore stood on the welcome mat, blue eyes twinkling.

"Harry, m'boy. How dashing to see you" greeted his headmaster.

"Good afternoon, sir" answered Harry. "I'll just grab my stuff and we can go"

"All in good time, I have to speak with your relatives first," replied Dumbledore. He walked into the living room where Vernon, Petunia and Dudley were sitting in front of the television. A small cough from Dumbledore caught their attention and Petunia's face went an even paler shade of white when she saw who had stepped into her living room.

"You" she squeaked. She made to move behind Vernon even though the headmaster hadn't made any threatening advancements.

"No need to worry, my good lady. I'm just here to inform you that I'm picking Harry up"

"Right…well, off you go then" Vernon rudely muttered

Harry made to leave however, Dumbledore placed a hand on his shoulder before stating "I believe this will be the last time that Harry stays here. Unfortunately, and by no means do I blame the boy, but it appears that the blood wards protecting him and yourselves from – well let's just say not the nicest of people – have been brought to an end. Therefore, it will be in Harry's best interest – and yours – that Harry does not return here in the future."

Harry looked up at his headmaster, scarcely believing his ears. To never return to Privet Drive? It would be a dream come true, but once again, what are these wards that were mentioned?

"Right…well…"Harry's uncle repeated

"Aren't you going to wish him well?" Dumbledore seemed puzzled by Harry's relative's reactions.

"It's alright, sir. This is pretty standard" Harry said. In spite of this, Dudley heaved himself off the sofa and approached Harry, hand outstretched.

"Goodluck, cuz. Take care of yourself" Harry just stared at the token of goodwill. He reached out and grasped his cousin's meaty hand.

"Yea. Good luck, Big D" Harry grinned back. He turned and grabbed his belongings.

"So long then" he accompanied Dumbledore outside where the aged professor drew his wand and a rusty watering can

"Ah sir, I understand that it's been a hot summer, but I don't think it's time to water the gardens even if that watering can were up to the job, which I don't think it is"

"No, no, my boy, you misunderstand" His headmaster chuckled. "This is a portkey. When I tell you, press a finger to it and hold on." He tapped the watering can with his wand and muttered "_Portus._ Now Harry" Harry quickly grasped the decrepit watering can which was now glowing bright blue, when a pulling sensation from just behind the navel yanked Harry into a blur of colour and spinning lights before Harry fell with a distinctive thud outside his second favourite dwelling in the world. He was back at The Burrow.

Before entering Dumbledore pulled Harry aside. "Harry, I understand you must be confused about what's going on regarding your family and leaving so abruptly. I will reveal all in due time, I just ask that you don't go looking for trouble when I'm here"

"What's with everyone saying that I go looking for trouble?" muttered Harry

"What's that, Harry?" queried Dumbledore

"Nothing, sir" Harry quickly responded. "Don't worry, I'll behave"

Reassured, Dumbledore made his way down to The Burrow with Harry in tow. Tapping on the doorframe they waited until a short, plump witch with fire-red hair opened up with a beaming smile.

"Albus. Harry. How lovely to see you both" smiled Molly Weasley, "please, come in."

Harry entered the dwelling where aromas of all different sorts wafted through. There was the smell of Molly's cooking, the laundry being cleaned, and the unmistakable scent of a home. Molly followed closely behind "Ron is out the back in the garden probably on his broom Harry. Hermione is here too, she's staying in Ginny's room, I think you'll find them outside too. Drop your belongings here and I'll magic them up"

Harry went to go outside before Dumbledore called after him "Harry, I'll be tomorrow at 10am sharp in order to take you to Sirius' hearing. As his godson you have the right to attend the trial if you wish"

Harry nodded, thanked his headmaster and Mrs. Weasley and headed out. There in the warm blue skies of August, Harry could see his best friend flying on his broomstick with his sister following closely behind. The two youngest Weasleys were flying in formation and Harry marvelled at their synchronicity, with practise they could easily push for a place in the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He spotted Hermione sitting on the bench with a book propped up on her lap as she casually alternated between watching the siblings fly and reading her book. He made his way over to her as she looked up and gave a shriek of surprise and delight

"Harry!" she ran towards him and grabbed him in a warm embrace. Ron and Ginny turned towards the commotion and veered towards them, lightly landing on the ground nearby. Ron grinned and gave Harry a one-armed hug.

"Alright, Harry?" smiled Ginny.

Harry smiled back "Yea, Gin. You?"

"Not bad, just practising some new moves with Ronald" Ron scowled at the aforementioned name.

"Yea, I saw. Looking good the both of you. Trying to push last winning team out, are you?" Harry smirked.

"You know it!" they replied in unison. They all laughed and made their way back inside where Mrs. Weasley was calling for dinner. It was good to be back.


	3. Chapter 3: Trials and Tribulations

Chapter 3: Trials and Tribulations

After dinner the trio headed up to the boy's room to discuss what had happened so far over the summer holidays. Harry ran over the story regarding Pettigrew, which by the end had Ron staring open mouthed at him and Hermione looking quizzically perplexed.

"Blimey, Harry, that's rather full on" Ron said after he had closed his mouth. "Do you honestly reckon he didn't want to cause you harm?"

"I've considered that, but he actually helped me. What I want to know is what are these so-called blood wards? Actually, I was hoping that Hermione would be able to help me" he turned to his best friend who at that moment was frowning deep in thought.

"Blood wards…hmm…I can't say I've come across them before neither in Ancient Runes nor in Arithmancy. I also don't have a library where I access all the resources to find out. This one will be tricky, Harry, maybe you ought to wait until Dumbledore tells you before you go searching, you did tell Professor Dumbledore that you'd wait. Anyway, you have more important things to have on your mind, Sirius' trial is tomorrow, how are you feeling?" she asked.

"Well Dumbledore said he would take me so I guess if he coming then I feel pretty confident. It's hard not to feel that way when you have him on your side" Harry said.

"Well yea, but this is the ministry and Fudge we're talking about," added Ron "it's not as if they're the most reliable bunch, they could always screw it up"

"Ron, language!" Hermione admonished

"Yes, dear" Ron blurted out before reddening in the face. Hermione quickly went red too and they both looked pointedly away.

"So…ah…hmm…Harry seen those Canons this season?" Ron vainly tried to change the subject. Harry smirked at his mate, knowing all too well the Freudian slip that had just occurred.

Harry woke at 9am the next day in order to be ready for the upcoming trial. He was a more nervous now that he knew what was on the line. He had been thinking about what would happen to him in bed last night whilst Ron was softly snoring in the bed next to his. Where would he go to live? Who would take care of him? Would he move in with the Weasleys? Would Dumbledore take him in? Where did Dumbledore live? He knew that his parents had left him enough money to possibly rent an apartment in London for a couple of years but after that he would be back to square one with no money for education and other necessities. All of a sudden his mouth was dry and the toast he was eating felt like carpet. He started to panic; surely Sirius would get acquitted, wouldn't he? Before a full blown-out panic attack could start there came a soft knock and Professor Dumbledore had let himself in.

"Ah, Harry, having breakfast I see. Might help myself to some buttered toast" he said smacking his lips. "My dear boy, what seems to be the problem?" as he turned his gaze to Harry.

"Sir…what happens if Sirius doesn't get exonerated? You already said that I can't return to the Dursleys. I don't want to burden the Weasleys"

"Excuse me? How dare you say such a thing you silly boy!" shrieked Molly Weasley coming into the room. She had obviously heard the last statement. "Burden us? Harry if I didn't already consider you one of my own then I would be very offended right now. It has already been arranged that you'll move in here if Sirius were not be set free, and I won't have you commenting otherwise. Now before you can say anything else silly be off with you both, the hearing is soon and we don't want to be late now, do we?"

Feeling significantly better Harry rose from the table and joined Dumbledore outside.

"Now Harry, you won't have experience side-along apparation before so all you need to do is grasp my arm, yes like so, and hold on, it may not be the most comfortable experience" Before Harry could respond he was being pressed from all directions and what felt like being squeezed through a tube, before he could register anything else he had inside an atrium the size of a football field.

"Right then, off we go" Harry followed Dumbledore to a counter where a bored looking man sat behind a set of scales. "Place your wand on the scales there, Harry." Out shot a piece of parchment "11 inches, holly, with a phoenix hair, belonging to Harry…" the man trailed off and stared at Harry before Dumbledore dragged him by the arm.

They made their way to a set of elevators that took them down to what felt like dungeons. They made their way into the room where a chair sat in the middle of a room with raised benches. At eleven o'clock witches and wizards started to file into the room, Harry noted that many weren't members of the council but actually media journalists, several waved to Professor Dumbledore whilst many, Harry noted, looked pointedly away. The next moment Sirius was brought in with two guards accompanying him on either side. He sat in the chair in the middle of the room and the chains on either armrest gave a slight jingle as if to warm him.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the Council of Magical Law, here before you stands Sirius Orion Black, alleged murderer of Peter Pettigrew and conspirer with He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named," stated a voice from Harry's right. He turned and saw Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge standing up addressing the assembled room. "In conjunction to these supposed crimes, he is also here to contest with being charged with the murder of twelve muggles on the night that He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named perished. Mr. Black, how do you plead to these charges?"

"Not guilty, your honour, on the grounds as that it was Peter Pettigrew and not I that committed those atrocious crimes" replied Sirius. There came a great murmuring from the crowd and Harry could see that many were looking confused.

"…Pettigrew? Surely he jests"

"…maybe Azkaban did drive him insane"

"…there is no way he is getting off"

Harry worriedly looked over to Sirius who was gazing pointedly ahead so as to not fix his eyes on Harry. Dumbledore placed a reassuring hand on Harry's shoulder and stood up. "Ladies and gentlemen, if I could have your patience and attention for just a moment I would like to point out several factors for which prove that Mr. Black is as innocent as you and I" he waved his wand and conjured what appeared to be a stone basin with runic symbols appeared in the hall near Sirius. "Now, if you're willing to provide your own guards to remove Mr. Black's memories then I'm sure we won't have a problem." One of the guards produced his wand from the inside of his sleeve and walked towards Sirius, without looking alarmed Sirius inclined his head and the guard began to remove what appeared to be a long, silvery substance from Sirius' forehead. He placed the essence in the basin and tapped on in once before three opaque figures rose from the basin. Harry recognised them as a younger version of Sirius talking to what appeared to be his mother and father

"_Sirius, you're crazy, you're obviously going to be our secret-keeper," said James Potter._

"_Yes, we would trust you with our lives, we are trusting you with our lives" concurred Lily_

"_No, no, NO! Don't you see? This is what everyone will think too. If you have me be your secret-keeper what's to say that a Death Eater won't try and torture the location out of me. I would die before betraying you, but there are ways to obtain the truth, we all know that. Have Peter as your keeper instead"_

"_Peter?" Lily almost gagged "if you're talking about holding up whilst being tortured then I don't think Peter will do a better job than you, Sirius"_

"_No, you're right, but people won't think to target Peter" retorted Sirius_

"…_but…"_

"_NO buts DAMMIT!" shouted Sirius, and Harry could see that he was visibly scared "I won't lose you both, not now, not when young Harry has just come into the world. You must both listen to me..."_

_The figures dissolved and another scene rose and unfolded before them, it was Sirius facing Peter Pettigrew in a crowded muggle street, they had both drawn their wands and Sirius was screaming at Peter._

"_You betrayed them! How could you? He was your friend!" cried Sirius_

"_You don't know, the Dark Lord has power that you can't dream of. He can give you anything you want, it's impossible to resist," replied Peter. Even from his view Harry could see the mad gleam and lust for power in Peter's eyes. Before Sirius could reply or shout a spell Peter cried out "_Confringo_!" and an orange fire-like light lit up the street before blasting the pavement into a crater. Harry saw Peter disappear in a cloud of ash as the ensuing noise caught his attention. There were bodies of people littered around Sirius, pieces missing, blood spattered on the parchment and the screams that followed were juxtaposed by the manic laughter emanating from Sirius._

"_I will find you, you filthy rat, I know who and what you are, mark my words Peter" laughed Sirius in a frenzy._

The scene dissolved again and an event familiar to Harry rose from the basin. It was himself, Ron, Hermione and Sirius with Peter and Remus in the Shrieking Shack at the end of the last school year. This too played out as Harry remembered it and soon it dissolved back in the basin with nothing else rising. Everyone sat in stunned silence as they tried to absorb what had just occurred.

"Hmm…well…" coughed Fudge "…well we all know that memories can be tampered with so there is still reason to suspect Sirius Black!"

Dumbledore calmly nodded "You're right of course, Minister, that is why I would like to call Mr. Potter to the platform to have his memory examined if he is willing." Before he finished the sentence Harry was up but was quickly ushered back down by Fudge.

"Sit down, boy. He could have had a confundus charm placed on him" he stated matter-of-factly.

"Quite right again, Minister" it appeared as Dumbledore was placating the minister and was teeing up for another hand to be played. "Well, as I understand, Veritaserum is forbidden in most trials however, in this case if allowed, we may be able to use it" he finished

Dumbledore was playing the jury, it was evident to see, there were whispers echoing throughout the chamber and Harry could tell they wanted an end to the trial

"Alright, alright" acquiesced Fudge. He motioned to one of the guards and they produced a vial of colourless liquid from their robes and instructed Sirius to open his mouth. They placed three drops on his tongue and waited. Sirius' eyes glazed over and his face took on an emotionless mask.

"What is your name?" asked Fudge

"Sirius Orion Black"

"Where have you lived for the last twelve years?"

"Eleven years were spent in Azkaban prison, the last year I spent on the run, trying to gain entrance to Hogwarts"

"Why did you try and gain entrance to Hogwarts?"

"In order to kill Peter Pettigrew"

"Pettigrew is dead, we found his finger at the crime scene. What would make you believe otherwise?"

"He is not dead. He disguised himself in his animagus form to elude capture"

"How do you know that he is an animagus?" At this question Harry could see that Sirius stiffened somewhat as if trying to hide something however, he soon relaxed and continued in the same flat monotone

"In our fifth year three of us, myself, James and Peter became Animagi in order to be with Remus Lupin on the full moon" members of the council gasped at this declaration. What foolhardy behaviour! To run along with a werewolf on the full moon was courting trouble. Fudge was looking uncomfortable again, he was losing the council and opinion was swaying.

"Did you kill Peter Pettigrew?"

"No"

"Did you betray Lily and James Potter and coerce with the Dark Lord?"

"No" with that last affirmation the council and all the members of the media were in an uproar.

"…set him free"

"…compensation"

"…what have we done putting him away for so long?"

"QUIET!" roared Fudge gaining the attention of the room at once, he nodded towards the guardsman who quickly revived Sirius. "Now, as all of the evidence has been presented, myself and the rest of the council will attempt to come to a resolution regarding Mr. Black's freedom. A show of hands for those in favour of acquitting Mr. Sirius Black of all charges." Harry quickly counted and saw that the majority of the council had raised their hands; there were however, some that hadn't voted, were they supporters of Voldemort or were they just abstaining from declaring their allegiance?

"Right, Mr. Black you're free to go and all charges have been dropped. Furthermore, as far as we can tell you have been wrongly incarcerated for eleven years resulting in compensation of 58,300 galleons. This works out to be 5,300 galleons for every year you were incarcerated, the figure being today's average annual wage"*

With this Fudge rose as did the rest of the council and they departed from the chambers. Harry looked over to Sirius who just stood there transfixed on nothing, scarcely being able to believe it. He was free, he hadn't even dreamed of such a situation. He saw a movement and Harry grabbed him in a bear hug squeezing him tight.

Dumbledore walked up and shook his hand. "Congratulations, Sirius"

"Thanks, Albus, couldn't have done it without you"

"Oh, I'm sure you would have managed somewhat, you were one of the brightest in your year"

Sirius grinned and walked out of the hall, "let's go, Harry."

_*This was worked out as the average annual wage in Britain is £26,500 and JK Rowling stated that 1 Galleon is roughly equal to £5 _


	4. Chapter 4: Guardianship & Qudditch WC

Disclaimer: I don't own or make any money/royalties from this chapter or the subsequent chapters

Chapter 4: Guardianship and the Quidditch World Cup

Before they could continue the minister of magic himself who looked rather shamefaced approached them.

"Mr. Black I would also like to say how sorry I am and the establishment of the ministry for the woeful treatment of placed upon you these last eleven years. I know we can't make it up to you, and the compensation fee given to you is probably a pittance compared to the vast Black trust in your Gringotts account however, feel free to contact myself whenever you need an opinion or even a word."

The minister shuffled off and the trio looked on, a bemused expression on Dumbledore's face.

"It appears as if the minister has matured somewhat" he said "never a bad thing to have the Minister of Magic's ear. Now, Harry, we need to sort out guardianship with you. As you're aware, Sirius is your godfather which means that he is your new custodian as it will be impossible for you to remain with the Dursleys." He turned to Sirius, "I believe that the old Black residence is still available for you to live in?"

"Yes, it should be. I daresay it will be in a state of disarray and disrepair but it should do. I'm not even sure if our old house elf is still alive"

"You have a house elf?" Harry asked bewildered. Ron had told him that only rich families had house elves, he didn't know that Sirius was rich, then again Sirius _had_ bought him his Firebolt and Fudge had mentioned that the Black fortune was rather impressive.

"Yea, we did, stupid little git really. Always went on about our pureblood status, brainwashed most likely by my delightful mother" he added in a dark undertone. "Anyway, on to more cheerful matters, you're welcome to move in whenever you want. I'm sure the Weasleys are happy to have you stay over at their place until the Quidditch World Cup"

"Actually, I'd prefer to move in with you straight away, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about" said Harry, "you too, professor" he added.

The two adults exchanged a look, Sirius frowned "okay, onwards then."

Sitting in the kitchen of 12 Grimmauld Place, Harry recounted what had transpired the night Pettigrew had decided to pay a visit. By the end of the story Sirius looked murderous and turned to Dumbledore,

"How could you let his happen?" he accused

The headmaster took his time answering, a thoughtful expression on his aged face.

"To be perfectly honest, I knew the blood wards had fallen and this was one of the reasons why I decided to pick Harry up however, I had no idea that Peter would target Harry. In saying that, target doesn't seem to be the appropriate word here considering what came to light. Hmm…I daresay that when you showed compassion back at Hogwarts you may have created a magical bond between the two of you. I can't say for sure if it has been re-payed yet or not though. Regarding why the wards had fallen and your mother's protection lost, I expect it was because Harry acknowledged you, Sirius, as his guardian back at the end of the school term. What I find most surprising is that I actually had a scout posted near Harry's house on that night and yet Peter seemed to have slipped by him. Perhaps we have underestimated Mr. Pettigrew"

"Vicious rat" Sirius spat. He started pacing back and forth in the kitchen, seemingly trying to come to turns with the situation.

"Errr…there's another thing" Harry continued

"What? Another traitorous dick tracking your whereabouts" Sirius growled before realising what he said and apologising "sorry about the language, Albus"

"Never mind about that. You were saying, Harry?"

"Well, last term as I was sitting my practical divination exam, Professor Trelawney went…well let's say a bit more unusual than normal."

At this Professor Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. "More unusual than normal, you say?"

"Yes, she had what was nearly a seizure, her voice changed and afterwards she completely forgot what had happened. At first I thought nothing of it, but when Wormtail escaped it started to make sense"

At these words Dumbledore looked stricken "Harry! You must tell us what you remember, if what you say is true then we have a situation that needs to be addressed right away. If I'm correct then that was a proper prophecy"

Harry recounted everything, detailing the exact words as he remembered.

"Albus, what does this mean?" asked Sirius.

Dumbledore frowned; the twinkle in his eyes that usually accompanied his kindly face was gone. "It means we need to resurrect the Old Guard"

Sirius' face paled. "Surely not"

"I'm afraid so. We need to implement safeguards as much as possible. Unfortunately, there is little we can do. Prophecies of this nature are impossible to alter or manipulate. However, we can try to minimise the casualties"

Harry was looking between the two adults, a confused expression on his face. "What's going on?" he asked

"I don't have the time to answer, but Sirius as Harry's guardian you have the right to explain everything. It's your prerogative, but please be mindful of his maturity and his age." He gave one last nod of his head and shook Sirius' hand before turning on the spot and disappearing.

Sirius turned to Harry. "So, roomie, what's on the agenda for today?"

"Nice try, Sirius, but I want to know what's going on," answered Harry.

"I'm sorry, Harry but for know I don't want to burden you with more than you can take" he held up his hand stopping Harry from interrupting. "Yes I know how much you've been through and experiences you've had, but for now trust me"

Harry begrudging huffed and nodded. "Fine, well I guess we need to move my stuff over to here, and whilst we're at it maybe give this house a bit of a clean"

"Hmmm…yes well, I think we might need more hands on deck considering that Kreacher, the house elf, might not be up to doing this by himself if I'm completely honest. Do you want to call your friends and have them come over?"

He showed Harry how to use the floo powder to contact Ron however; as Hermione wasn't on the floo network they opted to send her an owl. Her reply came soon after and she readily agreed to come and help out.

The next day Hermione turned up and not soon after so did Ron who was surprisingly followed by the rest of the Weasleys.

"When mum found out what we were attempting to do she insisted on bringing everyone to help out" Ron shrugged

Sirius smiled. "The more the merrier, it will help with everything and to be honest it will be nice to have some company considering how I've spent the last decade."

Molly Weasley delegated cleaning positions and they were all soon working up a sweat clearing out the various rooms in the Black Manor. The infamous trio couldn't help but be in awe of how large the house was. There were multiple bedrooms, enough to house a small army, there were numerous bathrooms with magically enhanced showers and baths, and in the basement a duelling hall full of ancient weapons, suits of armour, and funnily enough mannequins. At this Ron raised an eyebrow at Sirius.

"Mainly just artefacts collected by my family over the years. The suits of armour and mannequins have another uses though. They're magically developed for duelling practise, the mannequins serve as target practise, and the suits of armour actually retaliate and have different settings so that they can block spells, send them back, and also send back mild stunners. Quite ingenious really, my uncle came up with these and sold them to the ministry, made a bucket of money doing so."

By the end of the week the house had been cleaned from top to bottom. They had even found a way to remove the portrait of Sirius' mother from the wall. Hermione had just suggested they remove the wall, and in doing so it had the added benefit of adding extra natural light to the front of the manor, which brightened it up considerably.

Soon it was time for the World Cup. Harry was feeling bad about Sirius not coming when the man barked his trademark laugh.

"Didn't I tell you? Fudge sent me a letter with tickets for the top box, so it looks like I'll be camping with you and the Weasleys"

They left the next day early in the morning to arrive at their camping spot to set up. Arthur Weasley insisted on completing the task manually without magic, Harry and Hermione helping out considerably as Arthur marvelled at all the muggle utensils rather than actually helping out.

Fred and George were in their element amongst the large crowd of people, they had developed their joke product line significantly despite their inability to use magic whilst away from school. Harry had to admit they the Weasley duo were quite the smart set when they focused on a specific task, even Sirius marvelled at this.

"You boys would've given us Marauders a run for our money with this stuff" he noted.

The twins stared back, mouths agape. "What did you say?" said George, whilst Fred still had mouth open.

"I said that you would've been a decent friendly rival for us Marauders," answered a confused Sirius.

"Are you saying that you're a member of the most hallowed Marauders?" asked George, Fred's mouth was still open and staring.

"Uh…yea, I am. Padfoot, pleased to make your acquaintance" Sirius said in a mock pompous manner

"Fred, oh sweet Merlin, Fred...this is just…Fred…oh…Fred," George struggled finishing his sentence.

Before Sirius could respond both twins simultaneously fell to the ground, shouting "Master, teach us your ways."

Sirius laughed scratching the back of his head. "I could get in a lot of trouble with your mother." The twins' faces fell. "If she found out that is," continued Sirius. The pair leapt up and started a jig. Arthur came outside and saw what was happening. "What's going on? Wait...if it's Sirius and the twins I'd rather not know" he admitted sagely. Bill, Charlie and Percy soon appeared coming out of the woods and they all chatted good-humouredly.

The gong for the commencement of the final rang throughout the grounds and the group made their way to the ground. The journey to the top box was long and by the end they were all red in the face. As they walked in they encountered none other than the Malfoys.

"Surely your house couldn't fetch this much for tickets?" Lucius Malfoy snidely remarked. The Weasley patriarch grimly pursed his lips and opted to ignore the Malfoy counterpart. Draco Malfoy smirked at his father's comment and was about to comment himself when the Minister of Magic walked in and made his way to Sirius.

"Ah, Mr. Black , glad you could make" he said shaking Sirius' hand.

"Please, Minister, call me Sirius" replied Sirius

"Well if that's the case, call me Cornelius rebuffed the Minister. They talked politely whilst the Malfoys looked on contemptuously. Ron, standing on the periphery, saw that Ludo Bagman had walked in. He excitedly pointed out Bagman to Harry and they whispered excitedly. Ludo made his way over to the group where he started chatting with Arthur. Knowing his son's obsession with the sport kindly introduced him into the conversation. Not thirty seconds later Ron and Bagman and was discussing Quidditch tactics with rapture. Bagman was obviously impressed as he was animatedly getting caught up with Ron's excitement and was good-naturedly rebutting and offering his own opinions.

He turned to Arthur Weasley "You've got a brilliant son here, Arthur. I can see him going places in the future. Mind as quick as firebolt, and a strategic intellect that could be interesting to follow in the future. Mark my words, he will be one to watch if he follows his passion in Quidditch. Boy, you come to me in a couple of years and we'll discuss things." Ron's face turned pink, unused to getting such high praise and he nodded, smiling.

The game started soon after and it would go down as a classic. The mascots providing amusement for everyone, Viktor Krum showing why he was considered one of the best at such a young age, the Irish team displaying their synchronicity and the overall outcome ensuring that it wouldn't be forgotten for many years.

The troupe made their way back and they were all soon heading to bed, grins on their faces. Harry's last thoughts before he fell asleep were of manoeuvres he would try and copy the following year at school. Hopefully, Ron would be able to help him. They would be unstoppable.

Then the screams started.


	5. CH 5: The Enemy of My Enemy is my Friend

Chapter 5: The enemy of my enemy is my friend

Harry shot out of his bunk, instinctively grabbing for his wand. He could hear screams outside in the camping area and there were flickering lights and shadows dancing off the canvas of the tents. He scrambled out of bed whilst the others did too. It couldn't have been long after he started dozing off that whatever was happening outside had begun.

"What's going on, dad?" asked a worried looking Ron.

"I don't know," replied Mr. Weasley. He hurried outside with the others in tow. Ginny and Hermione were coming out of the girls' tent and Sirius was coming up behind Harry. There was a fire in the distance and a large group of what appeared to be masked wizards pointing and blasting curses at nearby tents

"Quickly, kids, into the forest. Fred, George, take your sister with you, you boys are in charge." Percy, Bill and Charlie were already rolling up their sleeves and waiting for their father's orders.

Sirius turned to the Harry and his two best friends. "Guys, I don't know what's going on, but I have a good idea. You need to get out of here, fast. Protect yourselves with whatever means you have. Now, go!" He forcefully pushed Harry and the others towards the forest and turned to join Arthur and the three oldest Weasley children.

Harry, Ron and Hermione quickly ran to catch up to the twins and Ginny before the sanctuary of the woods swallowed them. They could still hear everything going on in the campsite but it was relatively safe being on the edges away from the action.

"What do you reckon is going on?" asked a nervous Ron

"I think that maybe too many people have enjoyed themselves and are trying to look impressive and flexing their muscles," answered Fred. "I haven't seen those masks before but I've heard dad talk about them, they're Death Eater masks"

Hermione clapped a hand to her mouth and gasped. "Surely not"

"Maybe, maybe not" conceded Fred. Before he could continue a loud bang was heard and a purple light filled the air, a woman whom was not forty metres away fell and stayed still. Ginny screamed. Four of the masked wizards laughed and turned to the group.

"Run!" Harry yelled. They all sprinted off, following no particular path as their pursuers gave chase. Deeper and deeper they went into the woods, branches whipping past them, tree roots looking to trip them over, the figures of Fred, George, Hermione and Ginny were lost in the shadows of the woods. Harry kept running before smack, he ran headlong into another figure and nearly face planted against a tree. He gingerly found his feet and when he eyes had refocused he could see whom he had hit.

"Easy there, Potter, wouldn't want to get another disgusting scar now, would you?" drawled the voice of Draco Malfoy.

"Piss off, Malfoy" retorted Ron

"My, my, Weasley. A mouth about as dirty as the rags you wear," continued Malfoy, clearly enjoying himself.

"Shove off, Malfoy. I bet it's your dear old daddy out there, isn't it?" Ron snarled

"You leave my family out of this Weasley" Malfoy replied. Harry noticed a certain fear had crept into Malfoy's usually arrogant façade.

"Or what?" continued Ron "you'll curse us?"

"He might not, but we will" came a sinister voice. From the shadows of the trees four figures came out, black robes billowing behind them.

"_Petrificus Totalus!"_

Harry fell to the ground, his legs and arms snapped to his body. He heard a dull thunk as Ron's fell next to him.

"Well well well, look what we have here." Came the same sinister voice. Harry had fallen against a tree and had a clear view of what was happening.

"Looks like we caught ourselves some fresh meat" cackled one of the other figures.

"Do you know who I am?" Malfoy stammered in a pathetic attempt to sound bold. "Yes we do, Master Malfoy" leered the man who seemed to be the leader. "You're exactly whom we are looking for." Before Draco could react, the masked figure slashed the air with his wand and Draco was flung against a tree.

"We have a bone to pick with your father and I think we might send him a message. So now we are going to give you a little makeover. However, we are still honourable men, we will let you fight us. Four against one, what do you think boys?" he crowed the leader. "What's this? Master Malfoy doesn't have a wand? I guess he needs to be punished for losing it. _Crucio."_

Malfoy screamed in agony, his body convulsing on the ground. Harry could see that Draco's knuckles had turned white and his muscles were seizing up. He was dragging his face through the ground, the rocks and roots scratching at his face.

The leader ended the spell.The mouth beneath the mask smirked in satisfaction. "Your father was one of us. He was in _his_ inner ring, but when the curtain fell and it was time to clean up the mess your father strangely went missing. He used all that gold and influence to keep himself clean while the rest of us rotted in jail. _Lacero."_

A red arc of light lit up the surrounding area and Malfoy let out a scream of pain as blood gushed from his shoulder. Malfoy looked up, glaring. Harry had to admire his bravado.

The masked men continued to sneer down at Malfoy forgetting about Harry and Ron who were bound by the spell still. One of the other assailants began to incant another spell but before he could finish, spells started to appear from the outside Harry's range of vision. They were coming from the seclusion of the trees; the disguised men blocked and parried the onslaught, trying to find an opening to counter attack. One of them fell before Hermione, Fred and George came out brandishing their wands, ruthlessly firing off charms and hexes, however, they were soon outmatched and the masked men started to outclass the teenagers. A yellow curse caused Ginny to be thrown against a tree and lay still. The twins gave a wild shout and redoubled their efforts and started pushing one of the men back against a tree whilst Hermione was successfully defending against two of the adults. The grownups wouldn't be deterred and they began to fire off their own spells, lights ricocheting off the trees, the spells causing a flurry of radiance in the darkened woods. On and on the skirmish seemed to go with neither side letting anyone get the edge when suddenly, they heard a bellow from not far off.

"_MORSMORDRE_!"

Before the fighting could escalate a blaze of emerald light lit up the night sky and colossal image began to form amongst the stars.

"Shit" yelled the leader of the masked men turning to his companions, "get out of here, now!" Before the youngsters could react the three remaining men disapperated and the friends were left standing alone in the forest. Not two moments passed when a group of wizards appeared before them yelling "_stupefy!"_ Jets of red spells soared through the air but the teenagers had the tenacity to duck down and the spells passed harmlessly overhead.

"Stop!" shouted the voice of Arthur Weasley. The assembled wizards and witches seized their charms however; they did not lower their wands. Mr. Weasley ran forward, and grabbed his children.

"Are you alright? Merlin, Ginny!" He rushed forward and cradled his only daughter, one of the witches came forward and wove her wand over the unconscious girl, an song-like incantation coming from her lips. Ginny stirred and look around and Mr. Weasley breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly ended the body-bind on both teenagers and turned to the adults. "These are my children, lower your wands, now."

When the children were assessed and checked for injury Amos Diggory stepped forward.

"Kids, what happened here?" The children quickly explained in turn, Harry and Ron giving most of the details of what had ensued, Draco remaining quiet throughout but when they got at this point of when the fight began Draco turned to Hermione.

"You saved me" he gave her a puzzled look. "Why would you do that?"

Hermione gave him a calculated look. "I'm not a barbarian, you know. I couldn't let you be mauled by those men, no matter how many times you have insulted me."

"You didn't have to put yourself on the line though." Malfoy said

"Don't get the wrong idea, I didn't do it for you, I did it for them" she gestured towards Harry and Ron.

"Thank you, Hermione" Malfoy whispered

"What did you just say?" Hermione queried.

"I said thank you, Hermione" Malfoy responded.

"You called me by my first name, you've never done that"

"Yes, well, I think the situation dictates that I be grateful and polite," answered Draco.

"Children, we need to continue with the investigation" interjected Amos Diggory. The kids continued with answering the questions whilst some of the adults went into the clearing to check where the incantation had come from. When they returned a couple of them looked uncomfortable for with them lay the stunned form of Winky, Mr. Crouch's house elf. More questions followed with Mr. Diggory asking the elf directly what had happened and soon after Mr. Crouch freed his servant from his service. The adults took the incapacitated man that Hermione had hit and the investigation concluded. Mr. Weasley took the kids with him and they returned back to their tent where they met Sirius and the older Weasley children.

"Thank Merlin, you're safe" Sirius rushed forward and grabbed Harry in a hug. "What happened, Arthur?" Mr. Weasley recounted the story and by the end of it Sirius' face was white.

"My god! You could've been killed! I should never have left you" he croaked.

"Don't worry, I'm fine" answered Harry.

Mr. Weasley spoke up "Kids, pack everything, we are leaving now. I've been given an emergency portkey." The adults used magic to clean up the campsite and soon they were making their back at The Burrow.


	6. Chapter 6: Reality Check

Chapter 6: Reality check

Back at the Burrow Mrs. Weasley was in hysterics following what she had read in the morning edition of _The Daily Prophet. _After reassuring her that everything was relatively fine and that the kids were safe they all reconvened in the living room to discuss in detail what had happened. All the teenagers had questions and though the adults were hesitant to answer everything, they understood the need to inform their kids the essentials. Ginny was first to ask if they were Death Eaters and Mr. Weasley could neither confirm nor deny this question as he wasn't sure himself though he did state that it didn't mean that the Dark Lord was back.

"What about our use of underage magic?" asked Fred.

"I've read that if it is used in a situation of self defence then it can be allowed," offered Hermione. Arthur confirmed that this was indeed the case, and that he doubted any of them would face an inquiry, as it was evident that the situation called for self-defence.

"You make a good point, Hermione," said Sirius. "This was all for self-defence. I've spoken to Albus, and I'm sure he has spoken to you as well" he gestured towards Molly and Arthur and they nodded in confirmation, "there might be a need to start teaching you a bit more than what is going on at school. I would like to begin instructing you all in defensive magic. For obvious reasons we won't be doing any practical work," there was a resounding groan at this, "however, we will be practising wand movements without stating the incantation. The Black library has an abundance of tomes, scrolls and other information regarding offensive and defensive magic. I also know that Professor Dumbledore will be dropping by tomorrow to have a discussion with you, Harry. I imagine that Hermione and Ron will both be permitted to attend as well, considering that you'll tell them everything." At this Harry and Ron grinned at each other.

The adults decided to continue their conversation whilst the teenagers went outside, Ron and Harry wanting to try out some more Quidditch moves however, Hermione had more pressing matters to discuss.

"What do you think Dumbledore wants to talk about?" she asked.

"I dunno, but I reckon it'll be to teach Harry some defensive spells and advanced magic," said Ron.

"Do you think he'll teach us too?" queried Hermione

"Course, we go wherever Harry goes," said Ron, Harry smiled at his best friend, glad that his friends had his back.

"So, Malfoy?" Said Harry.

"Yea, I wonder what was with that" responded Ron. "The fact that he called you by your first name, Hermione. Blimey, never thought I'd see the day. Just proves it though with his family, bloody Death Eaters, the lot of them," he added darkly. "His old man is probably grooming him to join _His _ranks."

"Ron!" Hermione reproached.

"Nah, I reckon Ron is right," added Harry. "Remember first year? The whole Chamber of Secrets. Malfoy knew most of what was going on, granted he didn't know who the heir was, but neither did we. His dad has probably taught him everything in the dark arts. In second year he used the _Serpensortia_ to summon the snake. How can he know animal summoning spells at such a young age?"

"Actually, most of the old pureblood families tutor their children before Hogwarts. The problem is that it's really expensive so only the rich and noble can afford it" Rod added ears turning slightly pink. Though the Weasleys were one of the oldest pureblood families, Harry knew that they prided themselves not on the financial largess but on their morality, it was because of this Harry had become so close to Ron in first year.

"Does that mean that he would potentially be stronger than an average first-year?" asked Harry.

"Well actually, it depends on his magical core" piped in Hermione. Harry looked at her confused, how did she know about this?

She went on "We haven't covered it yet, but in Arthimancy Professor Vector has quickly detailed that all wizards and witches have magical cores. As you grow, age, and educate yourself your core grows with you. It ranges from zero up to one hundred however, since the theory was first tested and proven no one has reached the top number, I believe Professor Dumbledore reached ninety four, but that's all just rumour."

"I wonder what our magical cores are like," mused Ron.

"Well getting back to Malfoy, he isn't necessarily stronger per se as his magical core would've started developing at the same time as our because that's when he started using magic on frequent level however, his knowledge may be more in depth than ours"

"More in depth than mine or Harry's I think you mean" Ron replied, giving Hermione an offhand compliment.

It was Hermione's turn to go pink in the face. "Well, yes" she said modestly.

"Does this mean that while we are on our summer holidays our magical core diminishes in power?" Asked Harry.

"Not necessarily. It is sort of like a muscle, it will always be there, but it needs to be exercised constantly to strengthen, that's why at the start of school term we normally do revision and basic spells to get back into shape"

Harry was really interested in this theory, to be able to measure your magical ability and strength sounded like an interesting project, maybe he would talk to Professor McGonagall about seeing if he could drop divination and take up arthimancy.

The teens headed back inside to find the adults finishing up their discussion, Sirius stood up and shook the Weasleys' hands.

"We best be off, Harry. We need to sort out some documents at home and do your start of term shopping too."

Harry and Sirius headed out to Diagon Alley to buy the necessary top-up items that Harry needed for the upcoming year.

"So let's see. You need the _Standard Book of Spells Grade 4,_ and _Defensive Magical Theory_. Well that's easy for books, we need to resupply your potions ingredients and then that's about it,"finished Sirius. He looked at Harry who had grimaced at the mention of potions. "What's up, kiddo?"

"It's potions, I can't wait to be rid of it."

"What do you want to do after Hogwarts?"

"I dunno, maybe something to do with Quidditch, or an Auror."

Sirius grinned at this. "Ah, well you're more like your father then. He was never an Auror, but he did join forces right after school to bring down the bad guys during the war, as did I. A very noble career if you were to be accepted, however, you need potions to be accepted."

"Yea, but Snape is the potions master."

"Ah, yes. How could I forget? Well first of all, I don't blame you for hating potions then. Secondly, no matter how much you dislike Snape you'll have to knuckle down if you want to make it through, and you can't have Snape bringing you down. Tell you what, I wasn't bad at Potions, actually, I was only third in the year level behind Snape and your mother. Yes, she was quite the Potions brewer, your mother" he said seeing the look on Harry's face. "She was a master at Charms, but she was also quite good at Potions."

The two of them collected the necessary goods and some extra ingredients too and brought it all back to Grimmauld Place. Harry followed Sirius into one of the lower level rooms where the Blacks had kept a potions laboratory.

"Now, I suggest we begin with a couple of brews that you will have throughout the year. We can't cover everything, obviously," Sirius said flicking through the syllabus, "but we could try antidotes, a wit-sharpening potion and girding potion."

The two set to work with Sirius explaining that potion brewing was an exact form of science and magic.

"Unlike cooking, potions brewing requires all ingredients to be exact, they compliment each other, whereas with cooking, you can get away with a little extra of this and a dash more of that"

"So it's like baking, or chemistry class?" asked Harry.

"What's chemistry class?"

"Never mind." With Sirius leading the class, Harry could begin to see how everything worked. Sirius explained the properties of all the ingredients and how they complimented each other throughout the brewing process.

"Snape has never done this before." Said Harry

"Done what?"

"This," replied Harry, gesturing towards the notes on ingredient functions. "He always just points to the board and tells us to try and replicate the potion to his measurements, we never find out what the ingredients do, unless he is berating us for stuffing it up."

"Snidey git. Probably gets a kick out of some power complex."

The two finished up, having successfully finished brewing three antidotes and a couple of potions. They packed up, content to be in each other's company until school started in the next couple of days.

_Bit of a filler chapter, the story will continue at a bit more of a faster pace from now with my own takes on what happens. Please Review_


	7. Chapter 7: New Friend and Old Enemies

Chapter 7:New Friends and Old Enemies

September 1st came by quickly after the World Cup and Harry found himself once again at Platform 9 ¾ waiting for the Hogwarts Express to take him back to school. Harry and Sirius had arrived relatively early and were just waiting on the Weasleys and Hermione's family too. Rather than stay at the Burrow, Hermione had decided to spend the rest of summer with her parents given what had transpired at the World Cup.

"Ah, I never thought I'd be here again," signed a contented Sirius. "Now I can bring you for the next couple of years. It really is a dream come true."

"How about your own kids?" asked Harry.

Sirius let out a bark of laughter. "Kid, that's not even at the back of my mind, and I'd need a lady friend for that to happen too. Nah, I'm happy enough being the carer of one particularly famous boy." He winked at Harry who grinned in response

As they waited on the platform the Malfoys stepped through the barrier. The two adults locked eyes and the senior Malfoy curled his lip contemptuously. It was no secret that he had been against Sirius' freedom. Though he hadn't said any outright comments in contradiction to Sirius, the thinly veiled comments in the media left little to the imagination. The two blondes walked over to Harry and Sirius

"Black." Said Lucius

"Malfoy." Replied Sirius

"Potter." Said Draco

"Malfoy." Said Harry

Malfoy Senior smirked. "Looks like you have young Potter here all trained up, Black. Almost like a good lap-dog" his eyes glittered in the verbal victory.

'You'll get your due course, just you wait." Said Sirius

"Is that a threat?" Lucius' voice was layered in malice.

"Take what you want from it" was all Sirius replied with, he turned his back on the blonde pair, and steered Harry away towards the carriages.

"So much for Malfoy changing" muttered Harry

"A doxy can't change its spots," replied Sirius.*

They met up with the rest of the group and began to find an empty carriage. Harry lent out of the window to talk to Sirius.

"I'll miss you"

"Don't worry, kid, you'll be home for Christmas, and at any rate, I reckon you'll want to stay at school for with what's happening and everything."

"What's happening?" interjected Ron

"Ah, you'll see" answered Arthur

"Come on, tell us!" pleaded the twins

The adults just smiled and waved as the train started to pull out of the station, the teens waved back and settled into their carriage.

As the train progressed through the highlands of the English countryside, the trio settled into their usual state of reading, playing exploding snap, and discussing the coming school year. The door of their compartment slid open and in came Ginny with a blonde girl trailing her

"Hey guys. This is Luna, we thought we'd come say hi." As Ginny made the introductions, the new girl fixed each teen with a serene yet clouded gaze, the colours of her eyes changing with each person she directed her gaze at.

"_Three friends; a foretold hero, his valiant knight, and a magic prodigy, bound together by impossible odds, against a foe that even the greatest of their time could not defeat. Together they stand with three others to vanquish a darkness not seen for centuries. However, victory is not guaranteed and whatever outcome will change the world forever. Friends and foes alike will fall before the cataclysmic end."_

The silence that ensued was deafening

"Umm, what did you just do?" asked Ron.

"I think Luna just told a prophecy," said Harry who had witnessed one the previous year.

"Oh good, I am taking up divination this year" replied Luna, completely unfazed with what had occurred. Hermione just eyed her up and down, the usual sceptical look she harboured for divination gone and replaced with a furrowed brow of concentration.

Before she could comment though, Luna sat up and walked out with Ginny grinning back at the trio as she followed.

"What just happened?" repeated Ron, his bewildered look not having left his face. Hermione had returned to her book and normal behaviour resumed for the three of them. As the darkness of evening descended on them more of their classmates popped in to say a friendly hello before Malfoy and his two sidekicks walked in.

"Ah I was wondering when we would be seeing you" said Ron, having been informed of what had transpired on the train platform previously that day. "You have to be careful, people might start talking that you have a thing for one of us."

"Shut it, Weasley." Malfoy's ears had turned a rather deep shade of pink. He turned to Harry. "So are you entering, Potter?"

"Entering what?" asked Harry

Malfoy smiled in glee. "Are you telling me you don't know? Weasley, your dad even works at the ministry. I guess grunt work never does pay off, I guess you have to be born into it."

"Malfoy, not only is that narrow minded, but goes to show that you'll probably turn out just like your father, a liar and manipulator."

"What's that suppose to mean, Granger?"

"You know what it means, now be off, we have to get changed"

With the sorting finished, dinner concluding, and the announcement of the Triwizard Tournament Professor Dumbledore was finishing his start of term announcements when Professor McGonagall gave a cough to draw his attention.

"Ah yes, before I forget. Initially, we were going to cancel Quidditch for the season however, with much persuading from Professor McGonagall we have decided to hold an interschool competition. Rather than having one house representing the school, seven candidates from all four houses will represent Hogwarts against the other competing educational institutions. Teams will be picked the Sunday after Halloween, as tournament champions are unable to enter the competition, anyone from second year and higher will be allowed to compete. Each task of the Triwizard Tournament will be held on Sunday therefore, the Saturday will host the Quidditch competition as a pre-tournament warm-up of sorts. Now to bed."

The excited murmuring continued as the students made their way to their dormitories, everyone discussing the two tournaments that Hogwarts would be hosting this year.

"You'll go for it, won't you, Harry? Youngest seeker in the last century, Gryffindor hero last year, reflexes of a kneazle." Ron joked good-naturedly

"Yea, mate. How about you?"

"Dunno, now that Wood's gone there's a spot for keeper, isn't there?"

The boys got changed into their pyjamas discussing late into the night with their fellow dorm friends about the upcoming year. Harry noticed that Ron was flicking through a book of some sought. Curious as to see why his obviously non-bookish friend was actually staring at this one so intently and actually making notes he made his way over.

"What do you have there, mate?"

Ron who was caught unaware quickly shut the book. "Ah it's nothing."

"Come on, show me."

"No, you'll just make fun."

"As if, come off it." Quick as a snitch, he grabbed the book and opened it. Inside the covers were carefully designed tactics with notes of Quidditch plays. The figures moved and interceded with each other.

"Merlins saggy balls" breathed Harry. "Mate, this is brilliant!"

Ron's ears went their infamous pink. "You reckon?"

"Yes, I'm not even sure Wood could've come up with plays like this. You're a genius"

"It's just something I've come up with over the holidays to keep myself occupied, you know?"

Harry returned the notebook. "Keep this close, buddy."

The next day Harry had his discussion with Professor McGonagall and Professor Vector, the Arithmancy professor about transferring to her class.

"You do realise, , that besides me highly unorthodox to transfer after missing the first year, taking my class will be incredibly difficult"

"I do, Professor however, Hermione Granger has agreed to help tutor me for the first year of the class, and I've already read some basics pertaining your class, including last years syllabus. I believe I understand the fundamentals quite easily actually."

"Is that so?" said the professor raising an eyebrow to Professor McGonagall. "Well you'll be able to tell me then what a Character Number is and how it is used"

"A character number is used to find the general personality of a person. The most basic way of doing this is by getting all the letters of their name, give each letter a number pertaining to its position in the alphabet and then adding them until you have a number, for example ninety four. Then you add the two numbers together, the nine and the four until you have thirteen, and lastly you add the three and the one to make four. You do this until you have just a single number. This method can be long, but it's not too difficult, it can also be used to find someone's Heart Number and also Social Number".

"I see. I have to say, that is rather impressive for someone who has never studies numbers before, young man."

"I never said that I didn't study numbers, professor. You made that assumption. I went to a muggle primary school"

"Ah, that explains it then. You have already some basic arithmetic knowledge then. Well then, I can't see it being much of a problem for you to join the class. You will need to sit the exam in two weeks time and if I deem your score sufficient enough then you may join our class. As I understand, divination and my class coincide with each other."

Harry left grinning to tell the news to Hermione who when hearing leapt up with joy.

"Oh Harry, you'll just love it, I know you will. We can begin revision straight away this evening."

Harry grimaced, not two hours into the new school year and he already had homework.

Harry walked up to his dormitory, thoughts swirling in his head as he tried to establish some reason for what had just happened. He was a Triwizard champion; his name had been pulled out. How? Who? What would he do? Everyone knew that you needed to know advanced magic to compete in this competition, he was a good student, evidently strong enough for his year, but the people he would be up against were far more advanced than him.

The portrait swung open and he was greeted by enormous rapture as his whole house cheered him into the common room. Everyone patted him on the back, shook his hand. The twins were good-humouredly shoved him with wry smirks on their faces, Colin Creevey was taking photo after photo, and his two best friends stood off to the side calling him over.

"At least you could've shared how you got in," glowered Ron

"Seriously, mate, are we going to go down this road? Do you honestly think I'd do this?" scowled Harry

"Well how do you explain it? You've always played "the hero", and now the biggest competition in the last century arrives at our doorstep and you somehow get chosen"

"Exactly, Ronald. How does he explain it?" Said an exasperated Hermione. "We both know that Harry isn't magically strong enough to fool the Goblet of Fire, he never has wanted to play the so-called "hero" and now he has been placed in a competition that openly invites death and gore. Furthermore, he is the Boy-Who-Lived; it doesn't get more famous than Harry. Ronald, I know you have a brilliant mind, for once use it!"

"Well when you put it like that…" trailed off Ron.

Hermione turned to Harry. "We are going to need to brush up your offensive and defensive magic now. Everything else will need to be placed to the side, I suggest we floo Sirius to get his opinion tonight before it reaches the press tomorrow morning." She started jotting down ideas and in her methodical manner, her neat script flowing across the parchment.

After the common room had cleared out they threw some floo powder into the fireplace and waited for Sirius to appear. He walked into their field of vision and grinned.

"What's up, guys?" His grin quickly vanished when they recounted what had happened to be replaced by a dark frown.

"Okay, well you have gone the right way in prioritising what needs to be done. We can leave who did this and why to a later date. You have been placed into a magical binding contract and the most important thing is to get you through the three tasks in one piece. Unfortunately, The First Task is scheduled to be before the Christmas break so there isn't much that I can do regarding tutelage however, I will be sending weekly owls with any ideas." The four of them continued talking well into the night, theorising what could happen in the First Task and any potential magic that could be useful. By the end Harry was finally starting to come to terms with the situation. They bade farewell to Sirius and retreated back into the common room.

As the weeks progressed Harry, Ron and Hermione could be found practising spells, enchantments and magical theory every spare minute. Professor McGonagall had given them permission to use the transfiguration classroom when free.

"What we need is an arsenal of offensive as well as defensive spells," said Hermione. "We don't know what you'll be up against and therefore, you might need to do both. Let's practise stunning to begin with and move from there. It would be useful for Harry to practise dodging whilst targeting objects so as to build up endurance." The boys lined up opposite each other and started firing off charms with Hermione watching from a distance. The crimson spell was inaccurate and hard to control so for the most part both boys had an equal advantage however, as time progressed Harry slowly gained the upper hand as his Quidditch practise enabled him to last longer than Ron. After the third time of being revived the boys moved onto free-duelling where any less than fatal spells were allowed.

"_Incarcerous"_ shouted Harry as thick ropes flew out of his wand to grapple Ron

"_Incendio," _the ropes burnt out before they reached Ron and he retaliated with _"Locomotor Mortis" _which Harry repelled with a shield charm which incidentally turned back to Ron who didn't have enough time to shield himself, his legs locked together and he tripped over.

"_Obscuro," _a blindfold appeared over Ron's eyes, "_Petrificus Totalus!" _Ron's body went rigid and he fell to the floor. Harry walked over to Ron and undid the curse and took off the blindfold.

"Good stuff, mate," said Ron.

"Yea, you too" said Harry wiping the sweat from his brow.

"Well done the both of you, you can have a five minute rest before we resume again."

"What?" Replied the boys in unison.

"We need more of a rest," pleaded Ron

"No, you're spell casting is like any other muscle, it grows with use and practise, the more you use it, the stronger it gets. As it is, Harry and you Ron, you're probably both around the average to above average spell casters. You're both equally strong however, what you do lack is firepower and the knowledge behind it. Can you imagine what it would be like to go against someone twice your age? Older? There are fully trained witches and wizards out there who use magic every day because they know the theory. What we do at school is completely different. We learn it via lectures and classes, and when the professors deem us ready we attempt it for maybe two hours a week in each field. It's not nearly enough. The other champions have at least two, if not three years magical experience ahead of you, Harry. You need to put in the hard yards now to at least make up for what little time you have"

Her rant over, Harry and Ron looked at each other sheepishly, she was right. How would he look in front of his school, not to mention the other two institutions when the other champions were performing advanced magic and he could barely focus a stunning spell?

With a determined look he stood up and faced Ron

It was a clear day with a stiff breeze as those who were trialling for the Hogwarts Quidditch team made it's way down to the Hogwarts pitch. As far as anyone was concerned, anyone from second year and up could try out for the team, which meant that nearly all the student body were there. Though Harry was a Trizwizard Champion he still went down with Ron to offer encouragement.

Madam Hooch stood in the middle of the ground, her voice magically amplified in order to talk to the mass of students that were there.

"Okay everyone, calm down. Now as you all know there are normally seven positions available to make a team however, as we want to discourage any acrimonious behaviour between houses there will also be the position of manager. This position will enable that person to essentially be in command of the team, and planning training sessions in between tasks. The manager will also be a reserve for any position if for any reason that particular position/flyer cannot perform their duties. Furthermore, they will be working alongside the team captain." There was a great muttering and the crowd started to make more noise at hearing this revelation. To reduce time, students could only try out for one position, so this had really stirred things up.

Madam Hooch raised her already magnified voice; "there will be a maximum of two players from each house on the team so as to encourage equality amongst houses. Will each house submit their proposed flyers and we will move on from there"

There was a scurry as everyone jostled to place his or her names down on the sheet of paper that was people sent around. The first positions were for Chasers and keepers as this involved the most people. Harry and Hermione watched from the stands as the horde of students dwindled as the positions began being taken. Harry knew that Ron who was vying for a keeping position was a bag of nerves but as the morning progressed and more students got sent back Ron was remaining amongst the best keepers of the day. Much to Harry's chagrin Draco Malfoy was chosen as the Seeker for the team, Roger Davis and Sui Li were both Chasers from Ravenclaw as was Zacharias Smith from Hufflepuff. However, Fred and George were named as the beaters for the team, not to anyone's surprise as they were practically born holding beater's bats, which meant that Ron who was still trialling out would miss out on the keeper position. This obviously caused a bit of disruption and Harry with Hermione in tow ran down to the ground to console a perceptibly pissed off Ron.

"Cheer up, mate. Ginny didn't make the team either. She was beaten by Malfoy of all people."

"It's totally bullshit though. You got champion, I was hoping for this at least. I never get anything." He scowled and walked off.

Hermione who hadn't said anything walked off into the crowd.

_*For the sake of the argument, a doxy has spots_

**Author's Note: **

**Sorry for the delay, been a busy couple of weeks. I'll try and be more diligent in the future with the upload dates. Please review as this gives me the best way to see where the story will go. **

**The next chapter will be uploaded shortly too.**


	8. Chapter 8: Two Cups

Chapter 8: Two Cups

The next day at breakfast Ron was still in a mood. Harry and Hermione had headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast to find Ron there picking at his eggs and bacon. When they greeted him he just huffed in response and ignored them. Soon after, the owls arrived bringing post, with a large barn owl landing in front of Ron. Busy with his breakfast he didn't notice anything until the bird gave an indignant ruffle of its feathers and snapped its beak at Ron's fingers.

"Ouch! What?" he looked up, seeing the nocturnal creature staring at him, holding out a leg with a letter attached. Ron snatched the letter; the owl gave a rather affronted look, and took flight ensuring that it clipped Ron in its wayward journey back to the owlery.

Ron was too busy looking at the letter, his mouth open with bits of scrambled egg hanging out. He turned to Harry and Hermione,

"Which one of you did it?"

"Did what?" asked Harry

"This" he said gesturing to the letter. He passed the letter over to Harry who read over the text

_Mr. Ronald Weasley,_

_I would like to invite you to come to my office after breakfast in order to discuss a particular topic that was suggested to me yesterday after the Quidditch trials. Please bring your notebook with you that you use for planning match tactics._

_Kind regards,_

_Madam Rolanda Hooch_

Harry looked up from the letter. "Wow, this is great news!"

"You don't have to pretend it wasn't you" replied Ron

"Don't know what you're talking about"

"Come on, if it wasn't you, who was it".

Harry turned to Hermione, who had kept quiet up until now, her face going slightly red.

"Seriously?" asked Ron

Hermione gave Ron a withering stare. "Well, you never gave yourself a chance with the other tryout, you know, the one for the managerial position. I thought I'd help you along and show Madam Hooch your skill. She was quite taken aback to be honest."

"You didn't have to do this"

"I know, but it's been done. It doesn't mean you have the position; she just wants to talk to you. Here is your notebook; I took it from your room yesterday before the trials to show Madam Hooch after you had already come down for breakfast. Now off with you"

Ron quickly got up and headed to the Quidditch professor's office eager to see what was in store.

He knocked on the door and a sharp command to enter was heard. Ron entered nervously, noting the moving posters on the wall depicting various Quidditch stunts and players.

"You asked me to come, Professor?"

"Yes, Weasley, please have a seat." She motioned for him to take a chair in front of her. Her desk was sparsely furnished, with only a photo of a younger looking professor in Quidditch robes alongside notable players like,

"Merlin's saggy…I mean, is that you next to Lennox Campbell?"

The professor pursed her lips. "I would ask you to refrain from using such language, but yes, that's Lenny and me"

Ron looked at her incredulously "Lenny? You call one of the greatest seekers in Scotland's history by a nickname…wait, why are you dressed in similar robes?"

It seemed to have dawned on his face. "Wait, you're wearing the robes of the Montrose Magpies, does that mean you once played for them?"

"For your information I haven't been a professor for ever" Madam Hooch stated. She seemed a bit awkward talking about it, as Ron fired question after question at her, before she held up her hand for silence.

"As I understand, yesterday you tried out for the keeping position, that is correct?"

Ron nodded in the affirmative.

"Furthermore, your two brothers got the Beater position, which if we are going to be frank, was always going to be obvious. Here is where I start to get confused, though you did admirably well throughout the day with your keeping skills, and it goes to show that the Weasley gene produces some fine players, you obviously knew that your brothers would get the position. What would possess you to apply for the position when you could've applied for the managerial position?"

Ron looked down shamefaced. "I thought that because I practised so much over the holidays I could pip them to the team."

"Silly boy, one twin doesn't come without the other, you of all people should know that!" The professor admonished. "They're two of the best beaters this school has seen since Merlin knows when."

"Well there wasn't much point hanging around after I wasn't chosen, was there? I mean, you said only two people per house, so I couldn't qualify."

"Yes, but fortunately for you Miss Granger reached me before I had made my decision and showed me your tactics book. Did you bring it?"

Ron handed over his notebook "It's not really that much, just something I mess around with when I have free time" his ears turning pink.

"I'll be the judge of that", the professor perused the book, flicking between the pages and analysing the figures and tactics that Ron had meticulously written down.

"What's this?" she asked pointing to one diagram in particular.

"I call that the Fly-around Feint. Basically, it involves the Chasers throwing it around in the defensive area and one Chaser in particular lobbing the Quaffle forward whilst the other chasers make to grab it. Out of nowhere, a beater uses his bat to knock the Quaffle into the goals. I've read the rules front to back and there aren't any regulations against any player besides the Chasers hitting the Quaffle as long as it doesn't touch their hands. In this case, it would be the Beater with his bat. The chasers would provide the feint and the Beater would make the move"

Madam Hooch raised her eyebrows "This is something else, Weasley you really know your stuff. There really isn't anything else to be said. You have the position."

"You're joking!"

"Mr. Weasley, I assure you, I do not joke. I'm giving you free rein over the players, this is an important role, you have the right to discipline as you see fit however, and I won't tolerate gross punishment that is unduly unfair. Now it'll be your responsibility to organise training sessions, plan match day tactics and ensure that there is a good level of camaraderie amongst the players and yourself." She added that last point with a definitive look. "I won't have you favouring your brothers or anyone else over others. We need to show solidarity when against the other schools. This is ours to win!"

Ron looked at her in awe and respect. "Don't worry, Madam Hooch. I won't let you down."

"See that you don't. Dismissed"

* * *

The next Wednesday, Ron had the Quidditch team assembled on the Hogwarts pitch. Already he could tell that there was some work to do. All the houses were sitting in their own groups, all avoiding talking to each other.

"What's this then? Another Gryffindor in the team, that's blatantly unfair" growled Smith.

"Can't help it if your House is rubbish at everything" sneered Malfoy, for once not taking a dig at Gryffindor. Daphne Greengrass who had been chosen as Keeper smirked at this.

"Yea? Well where's your Triwizard Champion" mocked Smith.

"Doesn't matter, we all know that Diggory won't last until the end, he'll be lucky if he survives the first task".

"What kind of school unity is that, Malfoy?" Tutted Fred.

"Shut up, Weasley, go ride that twig you call a broomstick."

"That's it, fifty laps of the pitch." Barked Ron.

"You don't have the authority to do that" scoffed Malfoy.

Ron produced a slip of paper from his pocket. "I assure you, I do. Madam Hooch has given me the liberty to see punish as I see fit. Now go!"

That had the effect of shutting up Malfoy, who grumbled and took off.

"Now, I don't want to see anyone else fighting, bickering, or putting any other team mate or house down, am I understood?"

"Sir, yes, Sir" chorused the twins giving a mock salute.

The other players grinned. Ron had the players put through their paces, rather than a conventional training session he worked with each individual player assessing their strengths and weaknesses. Daphne's weakness was that she wasn't the strongest thrower, she excelled in skilful protection of the goals, being lithe and little, the blonde-haired Slytherin was quick on her broomstick. Su Li was of a very similar make, not strong but incredibly agile. Roger Davis and Zacharias Smith however, complimented the girls and made up for the girl's lack of strength with brute force and good ball handling skills. It was soon apparent that Hogwarts had produced the goods; each player had experience, skill and expertise. Ron then had the team practise a mock game where he charmed figures to hover in the air as obstacles with the Hogwarts A-team to fly around them. It was going beautifully before,

THWACK!

Malfoy who had been attempting to locate the snitch bundled into Fred who unable to hold onto his broom fell from the evening sky

"_Aresto Momentum"_ Su Li with her quick spellwork was able to halt Fred's descent before he hit the ground

SLAP!

George in retaliation threw his Beater's bat at Malfoy, which clipped him in the back of the head. The two boys landed on the ground and started trading blows.

"_Flipendo" _Ron had his wand out pointing it between his brother and the blonde-haired boy. The two teenagers were pushed back from each other by the spell.

"Stop!" shouted Ron. "Enough is enough." He walked over to Fred to check on his older brother. Apart from an ego bruising from not being able to hold onto his broom he was fine. Ron then walked over to the two that had attempted to pummel each other. Malfoy was sporting an eye that was already colouring and was bleeding from the back of his head where the bat had connected, and George had a fat lip that was cut and bleeding freely. Having assessed the injuries he turned to the rest of the group who had landed nearby.

"Before you go to the hospital wing, I will say this once and once only. I will not tolerate any crap behaviour between houses and team members. We are representing the school. We _will_ show cohesion and we _will_ wipe the floor with Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. However, we cannot do this if you guys decide to take each other out and beat the crap out of each other. Malfoy, I was watching you and that was deliberate. George, you're my brother but I will not have you attack Malfoy, even though he probably deserved it" he added as an afterthought.

"You will both escape punishment for now, but if you can't pull your heads out of your arses and see that we are here to show that we are better then you have no place on this team and I will find replacements."

He signalled for Daphne to escort Draco to the hospital wing and for Fred to do the same with George. With four of the seven members gone, Ron decided to end the training session there.

* * *

Dragons. The First Task was dragons. A week before the First Task Hagrid had shown Harry what the First Task entailed and now Harry was flicking through tomes and books of all shapes and sizes trying to come up with a solution. He had spoken to Sirius and his godfather had suggested a Confundus Charm to hit the dragon in the eye with. Hermione had rebuked the idea stating that the charm wasn't very accurate and Harry would need to get in close to use it, thus placing him in more danger. Ron, who had experience with dragons from his brother Charlie, had suggested fighting fire with fire. However, Sirius stated that dragon scales were so durable that they could endure dragon fire let alone magical fire, and in saying that Harry wasn't strong enough to produce a fire worthy of burning or hurting a dragon.

"How about a stunning spell?" queried Hermione.

"Once again, not accurate enough nor is Harry strong enough to produce one that would knock out a dragon. It takes four or five fully qualified wizards to bring down a dragon with a stunner." Said Sirius. Harry confirmed that this was true having witnessed Charlie do that exact accomplishment when he had seen the dragons.

"What about defensive spells? We don't know what Harry will be doing against the dragons. Maybe he won't have to fight them but rather avoid them for a prolonged period" stated Hermione

Sirius furrowed his eyebrows, "that's a good point, actually. The good thing about dragon fire is that it isn't dissimilar to wizard fire, in that it can be put out easily enough. I suggest the first charm you look up is the Aguamenti Charm. This produces water from your wand. I can't say that it'll be strong enough douse the Dragon but maybe enough to prevent serious burn."

Throughout the whole conversation Hermione was taking notes, ensuring that Harry would be fully prepared for the upcoming task. They all bade Sirius goodnight and then headed to bed.

Fortunately, Harry found that he had an ally in one of the teachers and was able to come up with a solution to his dragon problem. Professor Moody, though crazy, turned out to be quite helpful and Harry found himself practising summoning charms, alongside everything else he and his two best friends thought necessary, in his spare time.

The Saturday before the First Task dawned bright and sunny for a November day, excellent Quidditch conditions according to Ron who had the team down in the change room early in the morning. The match would start in approximately one hour and the footsteps of the combined schools could be heard stampeding towards the bleachers. The team was getting dressed in their new Hogwarts Team robes with the Hogwarts crest emblazoned on their chests. The team had decided to call themselves the Hogwarts Hippogriffs. The Weasley twins had come up with that name, knowing that it was a sort of passive jibe in Malfoy's direction. The colour of the robes was black so as to enforce unity.

For weeks Ron had drilled his tactics into the team. He had used diagrams to rival Woods' and the team looked fantastic in the air. The only drawback was that Ron and the rest of the team were unfamiliar with how the Durmstrang students would fly.

Ron was giving his pre-match talk "We have two champions in the Tournament, _and" _he emphasised the last word as Malfoy made to comment, "we can also win this Cup. We've trained together; we have bled together, and now we are going to take out this first win together. Come on, team, let's go!"The twins looked at their younger brother in awe, a newfound respect for their sibling that once didn't exist. Ron's face was screwed up in determination. He was going to show not only Hogwarts, but also two of the best education institutions in Europe how good he could be.

The team headed out to rapturous applause from the home crowd. Durmstrang though wouldn't be deterred and they had magically enhanced horns and trumpets bellowing out chants and songs. From up in the stands Harry could almost forget that he was going up against a dragon the next day, almost. He saw Ron in a stand reserved for players, staff and the commentator, which today would be Lee Jordan.

Ludo Bagman who was one of the judges for the Triwizard Tournament had graciously offered his services as referee for the Quidditch cup and was standing in the middle of the field with his Firebolt tucked under his shoulder. Roger Davis who had been voted as captain shook his counterpart's hand and all the players stepped over their brooms. The Hogwarts team stood to one side of the pitch, resolve glinting in their eyes as they eyed off their male-only opposition.

"Now boys and girls, I want a fair game, but make it a good one" Bagman's eyes twinkled with excitement. He released the Snitch, which buzzed around the players' heads before shooting off into the sky, to be lost in the sun. He threw the Quaffle into the air, blew his whistle and the game was off.

At once, Hogwarts took control of the Quaffle, Li passing it to Smith who lobbed it over an opponent to find Davis

"Goal! Hogwarts with the first number on the scoreboard, ten to zero in favour of the home team" came the amplified voice of Lee Jordan.

Play resumed quickly and Durmstrang were soon in their attacking third of the pitch, playing a lovely one-two between the forward players. The boys were strong and were using this to their advantage as the third chaser protected them using his body weight to knock Smith off an interception. They soon came to Greengrass who managed to shield the goal and quickly pass it off to Smith. The Hogwarts team reverted to an arrowhead formation, passing it quickly between each other. The home crowd was ecstatic; Weasley had obviously disciplined the team so much that they were flying in sync, rippling across the field.

Soon it was twenty to zero, followed closely by another three goals. The Durmstrang team manager called a timeout and the players flew over to the stand to hear his change of tactics. Play soon resumed and a drastic change occurred. The Durmstrang teens now relied on brute force to subjugate the more refined Hogwarts method. In two different occasions of play they had forcefully used their superior body build to ensure that Su Li was taken out. Soon the score was 60-40, with the Durmstrang Chasers in attacking formation. Fred Weasley aimed a well-placed bludger at their attacking Chaser and Smith exploited this momentary lapse of play by securing the Quaffle and passing it to Davis who ensured that Hogwarts held the lead by converting a goal.

"Goal!" shouted Jordan

"GOAL!" bellowed the crowd. The game was turning into a proper competition.

"What's this? Malfoy has spotted the Snitch!"

A hush fell over the crowd as everyone turned to find Draco in hot pursuit of the golden Snitch, the hush lasted only a second as each school, student, and spectator began urging the two Seekers on. His equivalent was chasing right behind him, both on Nimbus 2001s, their speed was exact, neck and neck they trailed after golden orb. They zigzagged around the arena, Malfoy slowly gaining to soon catch, the snitch however, decided to loop over his head and was soon in reach of the Durmstrang Seeker who, without hesitation, grappled the little ball in his fingers.

The Hogwarts crowd moaned in dismay at the unlucky result, whilst the Durmstrang cohort shouted in elation, they had come back from a losing position to win.

The Durmstrang students in the stands made their way to the pitch to congratulate their Quidditch representatives whilst the Hogwarts students cut a sorry figure walking to the changing rooms.

"Unlucky, guys" consoled Ron. "Great flying versus a physically stronger team, there isn't much to be done against a snitch that has other ideas. Stupid bloody thing" he added darkly. The team just mumbled in response and continued getting changed, before making their way up to the castle. At least the next day they could look forward to the First Task to distract them from today's defeat.

That night, from the Gryffindor Tower, noise could be heard coming from down near the lake. Ron peeked out the window to see what the commotion was and turned back in with a gloomy look on his face.

"Bloody dark wizards, celebrating a stolen win"

"Ron, just because they don't have an anti-dark arts program doesn't make them all 'dark', besides you would be doing the same if we'd won" pointed out Hermione.

"Come on, Harry, let's head to the library" said Ron, ignoring Hermione's remark. "Less distracting there." Harry nodded and left with his two friends. In the library they found Viktor Krum, flicking through books.

"See, obviously, your idol has more important things on his mind than Quidditch wins," said Hermione.

Ron just harrumphed in response, not appreciating Hermione's lack of interest in Quidditch.

"Excuse me, vot are you studying for?" a heavily accented voice asked Ron and Hermione. They both looked up, Ron's face turned pink, mouth agape in wonder as Viktor Krum stood over their table

"We're helping our friend prepare for tomorrow's Task," responded Hermione

"Vy vould you do zat?"

"Because we're his friends," replied a puzzled looking Hermione. The famous Quidditch youngster looked puzzled at this response, brow furrowing at Hermione's to-the-point answer, and he soon shuffled off in search for more books as Harry returned with books piled in a tower in his arms.

"Hey guys, who were you talking to?"

"Krum, and it looks like our Bulgarian rival doesn't have many friends," answered a perplexed Hermione.

"I'll be his friend" Ron practically shouted raising his arm as if he were in class

The two others just looked at each other and grinned

* * *

"_Accio Firebolt"_

A wave of astonishment swelled amongst the crowd as Harry stood in the dragon arena having just summoned his broomstick. Moments passed as everyone watched the youngest contestant waited with his wand outstretched. From out of nowhere came the distinct whistling noise of a broomstick hurtling through the air. One moment Harry was standing on a large boulder and the next he leapt off landing athletically on his broom. He dodged a spurt of fire from the maw of the dragon and was soon higher and higher in the air.

The Hungarian Horntail remained on the ground protecting its eggs. The golden egg juxtaposed amongst the other stone-coloured eggs. Harry flew past the Horntail's line of sight, hearing Bagman's commentary over the noise of the crowd.

"By golly, the boy can fly"

Ducking and weaving Harry whipped out his wand and aimed it at the dragon.

"_Stupefy_" the stunning spell did nothing but bounce off the hardened backside of the dragon. Harry tried to dodge as one of the wings came up, but it clipped his shoulder, blood spurting out.

"Bloody hell" he thought, "it barely touched me." He grimaced in pain as blood freely flowed down his arm. He held onto his broom, as the dragon let loose a short burst of flames.

"_Aguamenti" _water poured from Harry's wand to negate the fire. The dragon was growing increasingly frustrated; it's neck dancing to Harry's movements. It's had eyes only for Harry. He sent another stunning spell at the less armoured underbelly of the dragon and it gave a snort of discomfort.

"_Incendio"_ flames shot out of Harry's wand and towards the dragon. Harry knew that he was doing nothing but aggravating the dragon.

"_Fumos" _a smokescreen billowed out of Harry's wand however, the dragon just arched its wings and batted the decoy away, but this had the intended effect. With the dragon distracted, Harry sent a confundus charm straight into its eyes, confusing the dragon. From wanting to protect its eggs it now wanted nothing but Harry. With a great flex of its wings the dragon jumped into the sky in pursuit of Harry. Harry not expecting the agility and speed of the great dragon was caught unaware as the dragon appeared right in front of him.

"Shit!" Harry brandished his wand as a claw came out to sever him in two.

"_Impedimenta"_ the claw slowed down enough to allow Harry to dodge and fly over the crowd, heads turning upwards and following his flight path. He gripped his broom even tighter to accelerate past the enclosure, the Horntail in chase. Closer and closer he flew to the eggs, before going into a steep dive and coming up clutching the golden egg, relief spread across his face.

WHACK! Harry was sent flying off his broom into a boulder, pain not even registering as he blacked out.


	9. Chapter 9: The Yule Ball

Chapter 9: The Yule Ball

Harry awoke with a number of people standing over him. Madam Pomfrey was trying in vain to get everyone out of the medical tent, however, Harry's friends weren't giving in.

"Eugh, what happened?" Harry murmured

"Well after you snatched the egg you were invariably hit by the dragons tail which threw you into a boulder. The dragon tamers couldn't get to you in time," came the worried voice of Hermione from outside his field of vision. He tried to turn but ended up crying out in pain as the right side of his body exploded in pain from the effort.

"Your right shoulder down to your bottom rib have been crushed, Mr Potter" came the curt reply of Madam Pomfrey. "I can repair them, no doubt, but this is a long process, much longer than what happened in your second year." Harry could tell that she wasn't pleased with the result; well it wasn't his fault, was it? He hadn't asked to be placed in this stupid tournament.

"How long are we talking?" Asked Harry

"For your bones to fully heal? At least a couple of weeks, they will be brittle until then. You won't be able to use your wand in that arm either"

"Great" mumbled a disgruntled Harry. "How did I score at least?"

Ron moved so Harry could see him. "You actually tied for first, believe it or not. You won the egg the quickest out of all the contestants, but you were subtracted points for your weak spell choice. Karkaroff wanted to take more points because you were hit at the end, but Dumbledore fought for you and said that you were hit after you had acquired the egg so the task had finished by then."

At least there was some good to be had at least, and in any case Harry would be off to Grimmauld Place for the Christmas break which was in a couple of weeks. He voiced this to the others who looked at him in an awkward manner

"Actually, Harry, it was announced after you were hit but Hogwarts will be hosting the Yule Ball and it's mandatory for Triwizard contestants to attend as they're opening the ceremony with a dance" Hermione's rushed answer didn't register for a second or two.

"So you're saying that I won't see Sirius this break?" Harry glumly noted.

"Not only that, but you have to find a partner to dance with you at the ball." chuckled Ron, "not that it'll be hard, after fending off a colossal dragon" he added with a grin.

"You think that's bad, how about turning up the ball with those dress robes of yours" smirked Harry.

Ron's grin slid off his face. "You cheeky bastard, thanks for reminding me"

"Anytime mate"

Harry was placed on a levitating stretcher and taken to the hospital wing to remain there over the next couple of days so that Madam Pomfrey could monitor his rehabilitation.

He was discharged a couple of days later with his arm in a sling his first class was potions however, he was late.

"Ten point from Gryffindor for being late, Mr Potter" Professor Snape's lip curled in a mock smile. "We are working on a wit-sharpening potion today, the instructions are on the board"

"Sir, I can't make this potion with only one arm"

"You should have thought about that before entering this tournament, but you have always sought more fame haven't you, Mr Potter?"

Harry started to give a heated reply before Hermione spoke up. "Sir, you let Draco have a partner last year when he was injured"

"Another ten points from Gryffindor for interrupting, Ms Granger. Very well, Longbottom, you will partner Potter for this task." Professor Snape's eyes glinted in victory

Harry saddled up next to Neville who was already apologising for their would-be dismal result.

"Don't worry about it, Neville. I actually practised this potion over the holidays so often I could probably do this in my sleep. I just need someone to cut the ingredients, can you manage that?"

Neville's relief was palpable. "I promise I won't stuff that up." He set to work with a practised ease that took Harry by surprise

"Neville, this cutting is spot on, I thought you were rubbish at Potions."

"I _am_ rubbish at Potions, but I'm not half bad at gardening and cooking so this parts easy. It's mainly Snape that puts me off. He terrifies me"

Harry grinned at the memory of Neville going up against a boggart the previous year, the memory strong enough to produce a patronus for anyone.

Towards the end of the class Snape stalked the room, examining everyone's final result. When he came to Harry and Neville's concoction his eyes narrowed.

"What is this?" he asked, voice layered with malice

"A wit-sharpening potion, sir" replied Harry, Neville was already cowering next to him.

"I can see that, what I don't understand is how you both managed to make one, you with your bandaged arm and Longbottom's lack of skill in anything. All I can surmise is that you both cheated. Thirty points from Gryffindor"

Harry's eyes narrowed at the accusation, Snape glared right back, his black baring into Harry's emerald. Harry got the distinct feeling that his soul was being exposed. He made to speak up but Neville kicked him under the table.

"It's not worth it," he muttered.

"For once you're using your brain, Longbottom" Snape couldn't hide the backhanded compliment.

"Snidey, reeky, greasy git!" Ron seemed to go through all his adjectives of Snape as they made their way up to the great hall.

"You'd think with the whole 'Order' thing that he would have mellowed out a little, don't you?" he asked Harry and Hermione.

"Nah, you saw how he reacted to Sirius being set free, can't stand him nor me" responded Harry

* * *

The Yule ball was fast approaching and neither of the boys had asked out a girl yet. Harry knew that Ron had eyes only for Hermione, where in his case he wasn't really interested in anyone, sure there was Cho Chang but she had already been asked by Cedric Diggory. Ginny had been asked by Neville, much to Ron's annoyance, and he deemed his little sister not old enough nor mature enough for such an event, Harry was glad he steered well clear of that scenario as he knew how Ron could get when his family was concerned. This wasn't even including Fred and George, who had yanked Neville from the common room to threaten him, he had come back visibly shaken, pale and wobbly at the knees.

The date was getting closer and closer, the boys still not having the tenacity to walk up to a girl and ask her out as a date to the ball.

"What about Greengrass? She's cute and I don't think anyone has asked her. You know, Ice-Queen status and all." Asked Harry as they made their way from the Great Hall after dinner. Hermione was absent from the trio, Ron had finally asked her but she'd rejected him stating that she'd already been asked.

"What? A snake?" spluttered Ron

"What happened to 'solidarity among houses to beat the opposition'?" quoted Harry from one of Ron's infamous pep talks.

"That's Quidditch, which you know is different, " replied Ron

"Well you can always bring Moaning Myrtle or maybe Winky" grinned Harry

"I don't know what you're so amused about, you still haven't got a date" replied a grouchy Ron

"Hmm…you're right," mused Harry. Just then Luna walked past, shoes off, carrot sticks hanging from her ears, staring dreamily at the ceiling.

"Hey Luna, where are your shoes?" asked Harry

"Oh you know, here and there, and everywhere. It's not really where they are, but where they're not"

"Right" answered a very confused Harry; Ron was stuffing his fist in his mouth to stop himself from laughing.

"Willyoucometotheballwithme?"

"What?" Gasped Ron

"He asked me if I wanted to go the Yule Ball with him" said a dreamy Luna

"I know that, what I don't is why"

"Well, he probably doesn't have a date yet and was hoping I would go with him, it's pretty logical if you ask me"

"Yes, but why you"

"I don't know, maybe he has some wrackspurts in his head"

"What are wrackspurts?"

"A Wrackspurt is an invisible creature which floats into a person's ears, making his or her brain go fuzzy"

"Oh" muttered a confused Ron

"Excuse me? Guys, I'm still here," said an irritated Harry

"Sorry mate, shall we go"

"I'm still waiting for an answer!"

"Oh right, Luna?"

"Sure, Harry"

"Great, I'll meet you at the steps of the Great Hall fifteen minutes before it starts"

The two boys walked off, leaving the blonde girl to her wanderings.

* * *

Christmas day arrived with Ron jumping on Harry's bed, though he had matured a lot over the last six months, he was still a kid at heart.

"Good haul this year," said Ron, a notion that he said every year Harry noted

Harry could never fall back asleep once he had awoken; he got up went to the foot of his bed.

"Better open these with Hermione"

"Yea, you're right," agreed Ron

The boys made their way down to the common room where Hermione had reserved a spot next to the fireplace for them. Ron went first in opening the presents; he opened the one from Harry first, a brand new set of wizards dress robes. They were rich purple with gold trimming and gold buttons.

"Harry, these are simply magnificent," said an awestruck Ron

"He's right. I didn't know you had an eye for fashion," agreed Hermione

Ron opened his next present that was from Hermione; a Quidditch book on tactics and the history of England in the European Quidditch Tournament.

"I thought with you being the new manager you could have something to draw from"

"It's brilliant!"

The rest of the presented consisted of the usual Weasley jumpers, Harry's had a picture of an emerald dragon, Hermione had a book and quill on hers which was charmed to imitate writing, and Ron had his usual maroon R plastered across the chest.

Sirius had sent Harry an enchanted mirror that would let him communicate with Sirius whenever he uttered Sirius' name. He received a subscription from _Defence Monthly_from Hermione, and from Ron a wand holster to enable him to draw his wand quicker from up his sleeve.

Lastly, Hermione had received an enchanted trunk from Harry. Inside the trunk was a ladder that led down to a library that was already somewhat stocked with both magical and non-magical books.

"Oh, Harry, this is amazing!"

"Don't just thank me. Ron helped too; this is from both of us. Ron chose the magical books and fairy tales, some of which are true by the way, and I chose the non-magical books. Books to remind you of your muggle side," he said with a smile.

Hermione just looked at him and Ron and grasped them both in a hug.

"Thank you" she said softly.

At approximately six o'clock that night, the boys started getting ready for the ball. Hermione had left hours earlier to prepare, still keeping hush on whom she was going to the ball with. They both got changed into their new dress robes, Harry looking smart and sophisticated in his bottle green robes whilst Ron looked positively regal in his purple robes. They made their way down to the entrance of the Great Hall where Luna was waiting with none other than.

"Greengrass, you asked Greengrass?" chortled Harry

"Well, I took what you said on board and decided to get it over with. She's quite pretty, and really intelligent, and into Quidditch!" replied a sheepish Ron

The boys headed over to greet the girls. Daphne was dressed in a sparkling silver dress that flowed to the ground. It accentuated her figure very nicely and complimented her blonde hair, whilst also matching her white pearl earrings. Luna was wearing a pale blue dress that rode down to just above her knees; it had a summery feel whilst staying sophisticated. Both girls were radiating beauty, and both Harry and Ron were feeling especially pleased with their partners.

"Luna you look beautiful," said Harry

"So do you" stammered Ron from next to Harry. Both girls smiled and took their respective boys hands.

"Wait, I have something for you" said Harry extracting a box from his pocket. Inside was a beautifully crafted moon pendant made out of white gold and miniature diamonds. He placed the necklace around Luna's neck, a waft of her perfume reaching his nose as she raised her hair.

Beside them Ron was doing the same thing. He had bought Daphne a blue jade pendant shaped as a raindrop, it brought out her pale blue-grey eyes. Harry knew that Ron was very self-conscious of this gift as jade wasn't the most expensive stone, and Daphne coming from a very rich background could have been offended by this gesture but she seemed incredibly pleased with the gift.

As they guided their partners to the Great Hall, Ron whispered discreetly in Harry's ear.

"Cheers, mate for the gift idea, would've looked like a Blast-Ended Skrewt if I didn't show up with something." Harry grinned to his mate and they walked through the entrance to the Hall that had been transfigured to resemble an ice-palace. The enchanted ceiling had icicles hanging from above; the trees were frosted with snow, whilst glittering fairies danced around.

Harry and Luna made their way over to the area where the contestants would be opening the ball with the first dance. Harry gave a nod to Cedric and greeted Cho, whereas Roger Davis seemed dazed with Fleur's beauty and didn't register Harry's greeting. However, it was the next couple that took Harry by surprise. Hermione was holding onto Viktor Krum's arm and was simply stunning. Her light pink dress was floor length and simple yet refined. Her hair was done up beautifully and she exuded a dignified beauty.

The Tournament participants began their dance, and slowly the rest of the schools joined in. Professor Dumbledore danced with Madam Maxine, Hagrid with Professor Vector, Professor McGonagall with…

"SIRIUS!"

"Hey pup, how's it going?" chuckled Sirius.

"What? How? When?" stumbled Harry.

"This afternoon, I would've told you earlier but everyone wanted to keep it a secret to surprise you"

Harry hugged his godfather before introducing Luna.

"Sirius, this is Luna. Luna, this is my godfather, Sirius Black."

"Pleased to meet you, Mr Marauder, sir!" greeted Luna. Sirius' eyes widened at the response before turning to Harry. Harry was just as speechless, how did Luna know about Sirius' marauding past? However, Luna brushed off their questions and Harry had to assume it was just Luna being Luna.

When Harry caught up with Ron later on, he was having a heated debate with Hermione.

"Well next time you could ask me first, couldn't you?" said an angry Hermione.

"It's not about that, Hermione, you could've told me you were going with Krum. I'm hurt that you didn't tell me," finished Ron before walking off leaving a stunned Hermione.

Harry looked at his best friend who was still watching Ron's back with a speechless face.

"I don't think anyone expected that answer," said Harry. He was amazed at Ron's maturity, gone were the days where Ron would fly off the handle with jealousy and he was being replaced with a mature, mellowed out teenager. Who would've thought? The rest of the night passed uneventfully. Harry danced with Hermione, Luna, Ginny and Daphne. Ron too was a picture of gallantry, ensuring that Daphne had a great night. Even Malfoy behaved himself, he had Pansy Parkinson on his arm, she was so gobsmacked at Hermione's appearance as well as Daphne with Ron that she couldn't seem to string an insult together.

As dessert was ending Sirius saddled over and joined in at their table.

"So, Harry, how are classes? How is Potions going?"

Harry explained what had happened recently with Professor Snape, even the part about the feeling he got of having his soul looked at when Snape's eyes stared at him.

"He what?" thundered Sirius.

"Yea, it was a weird feeling, but nothing bad, right"

"Excuse me, Harry, I just need to go sort something out." He stood up, focused on where Snape was standing and pulled out his wand. Harry rushed up and tried to stop him, but Sirius was beyond angry, and pushed Harry back onto his seat.

"Snape!" Bellowed Sirius. The whole room went quiet and stared. Snape turned around to see the commotion, as did everyone else.

"Black, please lower your voice, it's untasteful and disgustingly unrefined" sneered Professor Snape.

Sirius had his wand pointing at Snape. "Did you or did you not perform legilimency on Harry" questioned Sirius. His eyes bore into Snape's trying to discern the truth but Snape just flicked away the probe with a mental shrug. This was all that Sirius needed to confirm his suspicions.

"_Everte Statum"_shouted Sirius, attempting to throw Snape back. Snape however, had produced his wand but not quick enough and was bustled into the table behind him. He regained his feet and glared daggers at Sirius

"_Deprimo"_ downward pressure pushed Sirius to his knees.

"ENOUGH!"

Both Sirius and Snape were thrown to the ground, unable to get up, a pressure keeping them pinned to the floor. Professor Dumbledore was standing in the middle of the two, his hands outstretched. Harry looked at the two hostile adults who were glaring daggers at each other but still unable to move. How was Dumbledore doing this? Keeping two fully-grown adult wizards down with just his bare hands?

"Now, I don't know what is going on, but you will both accompany me to my office where we will sort this out." He gestured for Harry to come too and all four of them left leaving a crowd buzzing with questions and excitement.


	10. Chapter 10: The Quidditch Final

Chapter 10: The Quidditch Final

"Explain yourself, Sirius." Dumbledore's voice was calm yet he spoke with the authority that indicated his station.

"I was having dinner with Harry and he was telling me about his classes with Snape - "

"_Professor_ Snape" interrupted Dumbledore

Sirius gritted his teeth. "_Professor _Snape, and he indicated that he had been legilimised during one of his classes, and I guess I just wanted to find out. When I tried to do the same back to Sna – Professor Snape, he deflected the probe which gave me enough to warrant attacking him" finished Sirius

"First of all, it never gives you warrant to attack another person in front of children" admonished Dumbledore, "second, is this true, Severus?"

The black haired Potions Master narrowed his eyes. "So what if it's true, Albus?"

"I should think you know the answer to that question. You know very well that we do not perform legilimency on our students"

"Even if I deem them to have cheated?"

"Even then, but for the sake of this argument did you find him to have cheated?"

Snape looked away "I couldn't tell. I couldn't access that particular memory"

Dumbledore's eyebrows rose at the statement and he looked at Snape his eyes twinkling. "Are you saying, Severus, that as one of the most accomplished Occulemens and legilimens in the country you were unable to see into Harry here?"

Snape's eyes hardened. "I assure you, Headmaster, with proper authorisation I could pierce the famous boy's deepest memories"

"Well then, I believe you have just volunteered yourself to give young Harry some lessons in occulemency"

"What?" came the startled reply from the other three members in the room.

Dumbledore ignored the question and turned to Harry. "Harry, what did it feel like when Professor Snape looked at you?"

Feeling conscious of the three adults looking at him Harry gave thought to his answer. "I guess it felt like seeing myself in a mirror. It felt like being exposed and there was a copy of me being read."

Dumbledore looked at Harry and smiled. "Well done, Harry. You have described what being legilimised feels like quite aptly and recognition is the first stage of being able to protect yourself."

Harry would have been proud of the compliment if he had known what the headmaster was talking about.

"Thank you, sir. What is legilimency and occu-?"

"Occulemency and legilimency are forms of mind magic. Legilimency is the art of attacking another persons mind with your own and influencing their thoughts and feelings, and occulemency is the art of protecting your mind. A master of these skills is called either an Occulemens or Legilimens."

"Right. You said that recognition is the first stage of being able to protect myself?"

"Quite right. As you are, you're unable to put up any defence to Professor Snape's probe however; with practise you could achieve complete resistance and defence. As it is, you have shown remarkable aptitude for one your age. I'm not really surprised though, you have shown magical prowess from third year with your skilful Patronus charm, and this year Professor Moody informs me you were able to withstand his Imperius spell, no easy feat I can assure you. You really are the son of Lily and James" Dumbledore finished kindly.

"This is all very impressive, Albus, but why Severus and not myself?" Sirius looked like he took great pain in saying Professor Snape's first name.

"For a number of reasons. First of all, Harry has more access to Severus during the school year. Secondly, Professor Snape is more accomplished than you at both skills. However, I don't believe that Harry needs to start learning Occulemency straight away; he has enough on his plate at the moment. We can set a date in the summer holidays"

The impromptu telling off seemed to be concluding and Harry was wondering if he could get back to the ball however, Dumbledore seemed to have other ideas.

"How is your training going, Harry? Are you prepared for the second task?" the question seem to startle Harry and catch him off balance, truth be told he hadn't given the second task much thought, let alone start training for it.

"Uhh…alright, I guess," stammered Harry. He always got the distinct impression that Dumbledore could tell when he was lying. Now knowing that this could be associated with Legilimency he amended his answer. "I guess it could be better, I could be trying some more"

"I find that I think best when taking baths," the headmaster said cryptically, his eyes twinkling.

The meeting concluding Harry headed out whilst Sirius and Snape remained in the headmaster's office. He made his way down to the Great Hall to find the Ball ending and the participants leaving. He tried to find Ron or Hermione but they were already gone, he noticed that Luna was still at the table.

"Hi Luna, sorry about that."

"No need to apologise, Harry."

"It seems to be wrapping up," Harry observed gesturing around to all the leaving couples, "can I walk you back to your common room?"

"That would be lovely," replied Luna, before Harry could do anything else she had clasped Harry's hand within hers and started walking off, Harry trailing behind. All of a sudden he felt rather hot around the collar and he was sure his hands would be clammy and sweaty to the touch. Thoughts were running through his head yet at the same time he couldn't string any into coherent sense. Luna nevertheless seemed oblivious to all this and kept pulling him along. Up and up they walked to the Ravenclaw Tower, their destination getting ever closer until they reached a section of wall where a bronze knocker in the shape of an eagle protruded. Luna twirled on the spot and looked up into Harry's eyes.

"Thank you for a great night, Harry, you've spoiled me."

"Hardly, I disappeared for part of it."

"Nonetheless, you were quite the gentlemen."

Before Harry could react, Luna had stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek before stating the answer to the question at the door and walking into her Common Room.

* * *

Elsewhere, in the castle a similar scenario was taking place. Ron had walked Daphne to the Slytherin dungeons and was now standing out the front of the stone wall that was the entrance to the Common Room. Like Harry, Ron was at a loss for words and was stumbling over his tongue for something to say.

"Weasley, shut up," chided Daphne. Her grey-blue eyes looked up expectantly into his equally blue eyes. Ron's mouth had gone dry and he had his hand behind his head, carelessly ruffling his hair.

"I had a great night, who knew you could be the romantic type?" her voice had taken on a husky tone and she was drawing nearer to him. Ron's heartbeat was increasing, was it always so hard to breath down in the dungeons, and why was he so dizzy all of a sudden. Daphne was inches from his face

"So this has been great. I'll see you at Quidditch practise." Ron gushed out, turned on his heel and ran off, leaving a dejected looking Daphne.

* * *

Up I the Gryffindor common room, Harry had just entered to find Hermione sitting at one of the armchairs next to the fireplace smiling to herself.

"Hey Hermione, alright?" she seemed to come out of her daze, seeing Harry she sat up.

"Oh hello there, Harry. I was waiting for you, I wanted to know what Dumbledore wanted with you." Harry explained what had happened in the headmaster's office with Sirius and Snape.

"Occulemency, that sounds fascinating, I've heard it's extremely hard to master."

"Well Dumbledore says I might have a knack for it"

"Yes, that doesn't surprise me, you are able to hold off Professor Moody's imperius" she said in an almost exact quote of Professor Dumbledore. Harry stared; sometimes he forgot that Hermione was the brightest witch of their age. A noise brought Harry out of his reverie and he saw Ron clambering through the portrait hole. His friend seemed flushed and irritable.

"All good, mate?" asked Harry

"Stupid Gryffindor courage," muttered Ron, "all the talk of Gryffindor in the family and when it comes to walk the walk it deserts me." The redhead seemed to be talking to himself; he ignored his two friends and walked up to the boys' dormitory. Harry cast an amused expression at Hermione, but she just responded with a perplexed look. He followed his friend up the stairs and repeated the question, bringing Ron out of his trance.

"Does it look like I'm good?" said a dejected Ron. "First of all, I think I fancy a snake! Me, of all people. Us Weasleys pride ourselves on being Gryffindors through and through; it's basically in our blood. Secondly, I have no idea what to do about it. I doubt she even likes me, she told me to be quiet, you know?" He recounted the story to Harry, who wanted to slap himself, though he wasn't any better, was he? Harry recapped the events of his nights involving his godfather, Snape and Dumbledore, as well as what happened with Luna, and it was Ron's turn to have a wry grin on his face.

"We're hopeless, aren't we, mate?"

Harry laughed. "You know it"

* * *

The Second Task loomed up quicker than Harry could blink and he was soon standing in the bleachers for the Quidditch match that took place the day before the Second Task. Gale force winds were causing it to be nearly impossible to see and even though they were huddled under a gigantic umbrella, Harry and Hermione were still drenched to the core. The good news was that Hogwarts was trouncing Beauxbatons. The French girls just could not cope with the extreme weather conditions of Scotland, they were batted away by the fierce winds, and the continuous pouring of rain and the low clouds caused almost zero visibility. The score at the moment stood at 120-10, in favour of Hogwarts. Even Harry with his enhanced seeker abilities was struggling to find the Snitch.

"I wish Malfoy would hurry up and just find the Snitch," yelled Hermione, trying to make herself heard over the din of the storm

"There's a sentence I never thought you would say, or be glad to hear for that matter," Harry shouted back

No sooner had they spoken Malfoy went into a steep dive, levelling out following the path of the elusive golden Snitch. Not two moments later he held the winged golden ball in his hands and Lee Jordan was announcing Hogwarts as winners.

That night every house was revelling in the win, there were parties in every common room celebrating what a thrashing Hogwarts had given their French counterparts. Due to every house having a participant within the Quidditch team, the teachers had decided to let them be teenagers for once and enjoy the good times. However, once it hit midnight Professor McGonagall appeared in her nightgown enforcing everyone to go to bed. Harry, who got swept up in the merriment, had forgotten about the task the next day and thus when Professor McGonagall saw him with two butterbeers in one hand and cake in the other, one could say she wasn't too pleased.

" . " she hissed through her teeth. Harry looked downward and sighed, she was right. She rounded on Hermione and Ron.

"You are supposed to be his friends. I understand it was a fantastic win but do _not_ get ahead of yourselves. Miss Granger, I expected better from you. Both you and Mr Weasley will accompany me to my office. _Now!"_ She snapped.

The Second Task passed without event. Harry came in dead last but due to showing 'moral fibre' he was given more points than he felt he deserved. He was tied in first place with Cedric Diggory with the Third task not to take place for a while yet. The evening of the Second Task there was an announcement at dinner. Each school had won one game each and had also lost a game too. Consequently, the results of the previous day's Quidditch Match meant that Hogwarts who had won by such a large margin would be in the final for the Interschool Quidditch Tournament despite losing to Durmstrang in the first game. The announcement however, came from Professor Karkaroff and Madam Maxine.

"It is with great pleasure that I announce that our two schools will combine in order to create a team worthy of rivalling Hogwarts in the final" the tall headmaster of Durmstrang proclaimed. "We believe, that with both our teams providing their strongest candidates we could give the finalists a run for their money."

Though the man appeared to declare this news with enthusiasm and good-natured humour, Harry could tell that Karkaroff was ensuring that Hogwarts would go down to the combined forces of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. It was no secret that _Mage and Sorceress_'– the famous publication of the Wizarding world – had named Hogwarts as the best educational institution in Europe. It was a wily and strategic move from the two opposing principles of Hogwarts' rival schools. Beauxbatons was more refined in with their passing skills, their Chasers forming a formidable trio, and Durmstrang favoured strength and brute force, their Beaters being close if not equal to the Weasley twins.

Yet, the proclamation didn't have the intended effect on the mass of students that Karkaroff was hoping for. Rather than be subdued by his supposed tactical genius, the school cohort leapt up in rapturous cheers. Never one to back down, they stared the hippogriff right in the eye and said, "bring it on!"

Harry noticed that one person didn't look too thrilled. Ron who was sitting next to him looked rather green.

"Okay, buddy?" asked Harry.

His friend turned to him. "What if I don't win?"

"You'll be fine, you've got this. And just a reminder, it's 'we' not I" chided Harry.

From that week on Ron introduced more training sessions than ever before. The team was on the training ground every spare minute that they could. It got to such a fervent point that the chemistry that they once had was beginning to diminish. Ron's nerves were stretched to the limit and it was showing on the training pitch.

"Greengrass, protect those goals, it was obvious he was going for the left post. Lift your game" Ron barked from his vantage point in the air. Daphne who had done her best, glowered at Ron, flew down to the ground, dismounted and stormed off.

Malfoy glared at Ron. "Watch it, Weasley, you push the wrong buttons and you'll be left with nothing." He too dismounted and followed Daphne.

The Weasley twins flew over to Ron and both had equal expressions on their faces, neither of them amused.

"Ron, we get that you have pressure on your shoulders, we do too." Said Fred

"Remember, once the game starts, it's on us, not you" chorused George.

"I just want to win so bad," pleaded Ron.

"We know. But you're not going to win by making the rest of the team hate you" continued George.

"Why did Daphne leave though? I've been rough on her in the past" queried Ron

The twins just grinned. "Seriously, bro?" Said Fred

"She's had the hots for you for ages;" echoed George

"Probably well before the ball" continued Fred

"And from what I've heard you've been a real tit since that night." Confirmed George

"Can't imagine what you did?" said a sarcastic Fred

"Well I can but for your sake I don't want you" George Fred.

The twins' signature 'twin speak' was irritating Ron, and he didn't want to admit that he had been wrong. Shouldering his broom he trudged back up to the castle to shower and sort out his mess.

* * *

Two weeks before the Third Task and the Quidditch Cup final, Ron seemed to have finally mellowed out and the team chemistry was back. At the beginning of the training session, Ron pulled Draco aside for some personal training and conditioning. Fred and George were hitting beaters like never before, Daphne was protecting her goal - though she still remained passively icy towards Ron - and Davis, Li, and Smith were completely in sync. Ron even grudgingly admitted that Malfoy was flying superbly, though he wouldn't go as far as saying that he was as good as Harry.

The week leading up to the final match and task was both tense and entertaining. The Hogwarts Quidditch team were treated like royalty by the rest of the school, as were the champions obviously. Though Harry had been initially targeted for abuse by the other houses at the start of the tournament, it had abated considerably after the First Task.

The day of the Quidditch final was soon upon them. Students, professors, and spectators from around Europe had come to watch the much-anticipated game. It was going to go down as a classic. These were the giants of the European wizarding educational system going head to head. Specially erected bleachers were to be provided for the mass of onlookers. There were even rumours that some scouts from Britain's Quidditch League were watching to scope the skill of the players.

The team, who had been down from the castle for the last hour to warm up properly were now in the changing rooms waiting for Ron to give his final speech.

"Guys, this is it. There isn't much more I can do or say, this is down to you lot. I'm going to leave you with a couple of words.

The five S's of sports training are: stamina, speed, strength, skill, and spirit; but the greatest of these is spirit. We have the spirit. We have bled together, lost together and won together and all I ask you to do is win one more time - for me, for you, for Hogwarts, for Britain, for us.

"I don't believe in team motivation. I believe in getting a team prepared so it knows it will have the necessary confidence when it steps on the field and be prepared to play a good game. "

Ron finished his speech, the team looked at him in respect and awe; the twins were wiping away fake tears of pride and joy in their younger brother. Draco stepped forward, his face set with grim determination.

"Ron, you were born to be a player. You were meant to be here. This moment is yours just as much as it's ours."

He continued "My father and I have come to an agreement regarding the game this today and we believe it would be beneficial to the team if we were better." His eyes glinted with guile and deviousness.

"Malfoy, I'm not if you have been watching, but we are better, we are the best" pointed out a cocky Smith.

"Attitude like that won't get us there" rebutted Davis. "But he's right, we can't get any better an hour before the game. We are pretty much at our best"

Malfoy's smile being a smirk. "Really, I think there is one way we could improve"

Ron, ever the strategist, was quick to reply in a sarcastic manner "Unless you have seven Firebolts for us to use for the game, I don't see us getting better."

Malfoy's looked triumphant "I can go one better." He pulled out his wand and tapped the trunk. "I present to you, _eight_ Firebolts!" From inside the trunk rose eight of the most beautifully crafted brooms the team had ever set their eyes upon.

"Piss off" the twins were wide eyed and from the looks of it so was the rest of the team.

"Why eight though? I'm not flying," questioned Ron

"I believe, as does my father, that the whole team deserves it. You have moulded this team and together, as a unit, we will win," explained Malfoy in what for once was in a humble tone.

The rest of the team fervently looked at the Firebolts, not sure if they were actually real. Fred and George each grabbed one and held it reverently in front of themselves.

"This can't be real" breathed Fred

"I can slap you if you want" grinned George.

The two teams made their way onto the pitch to rapturous cheering from the crowd. With their counterparts on the other side walking towards them they met in the middle with Ludo Bagman officiating. Whereas Hogwarts was dressed in Black, their opposition was dressed in blue and red, a combination of the colours from the two schools. Durmstrang and Beauxbaton had organised to bring the rest of their schools to watch the match and the Third Task. One half of the stadium was kitted out in a blazing crimson and an iridescent sky blue whereas the Hogwarts side wore black and were holding up magical placards that showed a gigantic hippogriff that moved with the crowd.

Lee Jordan was once again in his role as commentator. "Here are the teams that will be showcasing the biggest interschool Quidditch tournament since before my time and…I can't believe it, if my eyes aren't deceiving me, it looks like the Hogwarts crew are sporting brand new Firebolts!" The crowd from Hogwarts cheered even louder.

"I have just been informed that this was a generous contribution from Mr Malfoy. Well, all we can say is Thank You, sir!"

The two captains shook hands, maybe a little harder than necessary. The two teams looked on from each other, it was no secret that this would be a grudge match. The Beauxbaton girls were out for redemption and revenge for their thumping and the Durmstrang boys were nurtured by Igor Karkaroff to win by any means possible.

"Alright teams, I want this to be clean, I will not tolerate any bad blood or sportsmanship." Said Bagman. The two teams just glared at each other.

Bagman set the golden Snitch out to fly; it whizzed past all their heads and then flew off. He released the Bludgers that shot up into the sky, and then he withdrew the Quaffle.

"Three, two, one!" He threw the Quaffle into the air and the teams kicked off the ground.

"Aaaaand they're off! Li is first to the Quaffle, her diminutive size coupled with the Firebolts amazing speed leaves little doubt she would reach it first. She throws it to Smith who feints in back to her before throwing it to Davis. The trio are tearing down the pitch, just look at that speed! Davis is one on one with the keeper and he SCORES! Ten to nil in favour of Hogwarts!"

The cheering from the stands was incredible; the school's unity was overwhelming. Play resumed and the Durmstrang keeper threw the Quaffle out to the Beauxbaton Chasers. Back and forth the Chasers threw the ball, showcasing their impressive skills before they made it into their attacking third, they looped the ball over Daphne who missed in by some margin and the Quaffle went through the ring.

"GOAL!" Cheered the opposing crowd.

Hogwarts regrouped and were soon off. Davis threw the Quaffle to Su Li who then performed an underhand throw back to Davis, who was about to throw it to Smith before a Bludger from one of the Durmstrang beaters hit him in the back. The Chasers from the opposite team grabbed the Quaffle and were soon off but Daphne did her job well and protected the hoops before throwing it back to Smith who performed an impressive Sloth Grip Roll to avoid an incoming Bludger and was racing down the pitch, he converted the solo goal to much applause from the Hufflepuff students in particular.

On and on the game wore on. Neither side giving much, Hogwarts had the initial burst of play however, soon the Durmstrang keeper was able to block most of their attempts at goal. Nonetheless, Daphne was having a blinder of a game and kept out most goals, this resulted in some underhand tactics from the opposing team and at the Beaters insisted on targeting her that occasioned her to implement some tricky manoeuvrers to avoid being hit but thus left the goals free.

An hour into the game and the scores sat at 50-90 in favour of Durmstrang and Beauxbaton. Hogwarts had started to wane a bit, their passing not in cohesion. Ron was looking on from the stands, his eyes screwed up in concentration, trying to find the cause of the issue. In goals, Daphne was getting rough treatment and as Hogwarts had the Quaffle the beater from Durmstrang surreptitiously hit a bludger towards an unsuspecting Daphne that impacted with her head. She flew off her broom, tumbling with velocity towards the ground. Ron, in his prioritised seat, pulled out his wand

"_Aresto Momentum!" _The spell that Su Li had used to halt Fred's descent all those months ago was used to slow Daphne down.

Ron ran over to her, checking that she was okay. Daphne was out cold and was refusing to waken.

"Somebody help!" He cried, his hands squeezing the unconscious girl.

Madam Pomfrey arrived in seconds and checked her over.

"_Ennervate"_ Daphne's eyes flickered open.

"Miss Greengrass you have been hit in the head, can you hear me?" asked the mediwitch. Daphne's turned to her and nodded her head

"Oww!" she cursed.

Madam Pomfrey performed a complex wand movement which showed an orb rising out of Daphne whilst the rest of the team landed beside them.

"From this diagnostics test it seems as you have a concussion and bruising to the spine. You simply cannot play on. Also, Mr Weasley you can let go of her now" she said.

Blushing, Ron let go of Daphne who tried to sit up but a shooting pain down her spine grounded her.

"As I was saying, you cannot play" asserted Madam Pomfrey. "You will be fine, and I can heal you but not before the game needs to resume"

Daphne turned to Ron. "You're going to need to play in my position."

"What?"

"You heard me Weasley, I can't play, and you need to stand in. Now be a man and step up!" her blue eyes flashed with determination.

"Okay…okay" he seemed to be trying to talk himself into it.

"You can do it, trust me" her hand moved over to his and gave it a squeeze.

His eyes met hers and steely resolution sparked into life behind them.

"Alright team, listen up. We're ditching the Firebolts"

"What?" came the startled cry from the rest of the team.

"You heard me. I've been looking on and we haven't practised enough with the brooms, it's causing us to be out of sync. If we are going to win this it will be through our own methods."

The team all nodded, trusting their commander. Ron pulled out his wand and summoned the brooms, leaving Malfoy's Nimbus 2001 in the locker.

"Malfoy, you're keeping your broom. I trust you" The redhead looked at the blonde, two fierce rivals in the past, now connected by something that they both loved, sharing a goal. The blonde jerked his head in acknowledgment.

"Okay team, let's go!" The Hogwarts squad stood up and kicked off.

"We're back, and we have a slight change to the line-up" came the voice of Jordan. "It looks like the youngest male Weasley is stepping in for Greengrass. Charlie Weasley was a heroic Seeker in his time here, and everyone knows of the Weasley twins' prowess on the pitch, does the famous Weasley Quidditch hero blood run in this one too?"

The cheers from the Hogwarts crowd drowned out the booing from their equivalents. Roger Davis took the penalty that had been awarded to Hogwarts after the foul on Daphne and he converted it with aplomb.

Play resumed and it was evident from the onset that Hogwarts were once again in familiar territory. The harmony between the players was simply compelling to watch. Davis, Li and Smith were playing with fervour and intensity. On and on they passed to each other. Smith flew under Li who dropped the Quaffle into his outstretched hands catching the opponents unaware and he scored poise.

The score soon sat at ninety apiece. The onrushing Beauxbaton Chasers drew close to Ron who rather than grabbing the ball with his hands, whacked the ball to Davis with the back of his broom, much to the enjoyment of the Hogwarts crowd. The Beaters from both teams were trying to out perform each other. The Durmstrang pair knocked the bludgers with all their strength and might but the Weasley duo defended their team well, even returning the action with as much determination.

"The Snitch has been spotted!" came the cry of Lee.

Everyone turned to see the Durmstrang seeker flying after the winged ball. Malfoy who had also seen it was right behind, his broom faster but disadvantaged by the distance from the initial sighting. Past onlooking spectators the two Seekers rushed to capture the Snitch, which at this moment would ensure victory for whoever caught it. Zigzagging through the stands, the Snitch was performing movements that were nearly impossible to follow. Malfoy had pulled in front and was inches from the ball when the nearly impossible happened. As if in slow motion the Snitch performed the loop that had haunted Draco since the first game of the season, he watched as it went from nearly within his grasp to the incoming Durmstrang Seeker. However, unlike the first game, Malfoy was prepared for this. The conditioning from the training session earlier that week with Ron was to prepare for this exact situation. Not to be deterred, Draco followed the Snitch, performing a barrel role whilst looping in the air to minimise air drag he follow kept on the Snitch's tail. The Durmstrang Seeker was caught so wide-eyed he had no time to react and before anyone could comprehend what had happened Malfoy had leapt from his broom to secure the wriggling Snitch in his outstretched hand, a move very reminiscent of Harry's in first year.

"YES!" Shouted Lee!

The Hogwarts crowd was going ballistic, what a win. Malfoy's move was scintillating and unheard of. Teenagers were pulling out their wands and shooting sparks into the air. The professors were had to be appear neutral were cheering, Professor McGonagall and Snape clapping loudest amongst them.

The team rushed to Draco enveloping him in a hug whilst the school streamed from the bleachers to congratulate their heroic team. From the crowd came Ludo Bagman holding a glittering trophy that had been magically inscribed with the Hogwarts crest on it to show the school's victory.

As the crowd cheered Ron put his hands up for silence.

"Before we accept this cup, I want to say a few words."

He turned to the opposing team who had filtered through the crowd to stand next to the Hogwarts squad.

"As much as it fills me with joy and honour to lift this cup, I want to acknowledge the opposing team. Without you we couldn't have achieved this result. You pushed us to the very limits to be as good as we could be. We trained and trained and trained just because we knew that you wouldn't allow any leeway. For that, I thank you. I also want to remind you that a trophy carried dust but memories last forever and I will cherish this battle eternally."

The opposing team looked quite taken aback by the thoughtful and quite eloquent salute to their flying prowess and they all nodded their heads in acknowledgment. Ron then lifted the trophy in the air and the resulting cheer was deafening to all those nearby.


End file.
